A female elephant died after reportedly coming in contact with a live wire at an orange farm in Reamal block of Deogarh district on Thursday.
The incident took place in Khilabereni village under Chadheimara panchayat which comes under the Kundeigola Section of Reamal Forest Range.
As per reports, a herd of 17 to 18 elephants came into the area and tried entering the orange farm at around 2 am in the night. As the farm was fenced with live wires, one of the female elephants came in contact with it and died on the spot. Since then, the herd has been guarding the carcass, sources said. Villagers, on getting to know about the incident, informed forest personnel who reached the spot immediately.
Official sources said the exact cause of death would be ascertained after the postmortem report.