A 32- year- old bull elephant was found dead in Mundal beat of Chilla range under Rajaji Tiger Reserve on Friday morning when the forest team went on a routine patrolling. According to the forest officials, the elephant might have been killed by another during a bloody fight over mating with a cow elephant. Following the carcass being found, the forest area was cordoned off. The body of the tusker was buried after autopsy was done by the forest department.
Those in the know of the animal behaviour say that the elephants which are not inherently aggressive are now turning so with their wildlife habitats being fragmented. “Inherently social by nature, they are now changing and during the mating season, they become dangerously aggressive and determined not to yield space to other males when it comes to mating with female, they are not shying away from killing rivals,” said one of the specialists on animal behaviour.
The forest ranger of Chilla forest range, Anil Kumar Painuly said while talking to The Pioneer, “While patrolling on Friday morning, our forest guards have found the body of a male elephant in Mundal area under Rajaji Tiger Reserve.
Acting on the information, a team of senior forest officials rushed to the spot. The post- mortem was done by Dr Aditi Sharma and the area where the elephant was found lying dead was cordoned off.”
Quizzed over the cause leading to its death, the forester said that as per the initial investigation, the tusker might have been killed during a fight among tuskers over the mating issue. “This happens during the mating season,” he added.