An ailing tusker died late on Monday night in Toda Reserve Forest under the Bonei Forest Division of Sundargarh district.
The elephant, aged about 30 years, had got separated from an 18-member herd and started roaming alone in the forest.
Two days back, the tusker had fallen ill and forest officials had informed a veterinary doctor for its treatment. Doctor Sudhakar Behera had started treatment and forest officials were guarding the tusker. But the animal ultimately died.
Postmortem of the tusker was conducted on Tuesday, after which its tusks were removed and kept in the Barsuan Range office.
“As per the veterinary doctor, the tusker was suffering from diarrhea,” said ACF Johan Oram.