A wild elephant calf was found dead in the Baghota Tola area, within the Balumath block of Latehar district on Sunday. Upon receiving the information, a team from the forest department immediately went to the site and secured the calf’s remains. The local community reported that they found the young elephant near a paddy field on Sunday. The villagers, upon discovering the calf was deceased, promptly notified the forest officials. Guided by the directions of DFO Pravesh Agarwal, a forest department team under the supervision of Forest Officer Vijay Shankar Sharma was sent to the location. Following an initial assessment, the incident details were relayed to higher-ranking departmental officials. A specialized veterinary team was then dispatched to the site to perform a post-mortem examination of the dead elephant calf. The Forest Officer indicated that the cause of the calf’s death would be clarified after the post-mortem report is available.
Furthermore, villagers mentioned that a herd of about 10 to 12 wild elephants had entered the village the previous night and destroyed crops in the paddy fields. It is suspected that the calf may have died from being crushed by the herd.