In yet another such incident, forest officials on Sunday recovered the carcass of a tusker in the Sapanachuan forest in the Similipal area of Mayurbhanj district.
According to Dhukura Range Officer, the age of the tusker would be around 14-15 years.
Baripada DFO said the tusker might have died of anthrax as blood was found oozing out of its nose, which is a symptom of the disease. However, he said exact reason would be ascertained after a proper inquiry.
“We have decided to send the blood sample of the dead tusker to the laboratory to ascertain the exact reason of its death,” he added.
Notably, an elephant had died of anthrax in Karanjia forest range recently.
The issue on elephant death had been discussed in the State Assembly recently where Forests and Environment Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha said as many as 402 elephants have died in the State from 2010-11 till December 2, 2015.
He said at least 35 elephants had been killed by poachers since 2010-11.
While 14 jumbos were killed in train accidents, two others died in road accident and reason for the death of 85 elephants were not yet known.
The minister had also informed that while 61 elephants died natural deaths from 2010-11 till December 2, 2015, as many as 89 jumbos died of different diseases.