Tusker found dead, officials rule out poaching

DEHRADUN: A day after notorious poacher Sansar Chand died of cancer, carcass of a female elephant was found in Kotdwar range of Lansdowne division and that of a leopard near Binsar wildlife sanctuary. The wildlife officials, however, ruled out the involvement of poachers in both the cases.

Last week, the body of an elephant was recovered in Chidiyapur range of Rajaji National Park. It was deduced that the elephant had died of electrocution.

District forest officer of Lansdowne Division, Nitesh Tripathi said, “It seems that the female elephant slipped down from the hillock. She was old and had become thin. She must have died couple of days ago as a large part of her carcass was eaten up by scavengers. The place where her body was spotted was outside the usual patrolling range.” He ruled out the work of a poacher and said they targeted only young tuskers for tusks.

Tripathi said despite having an amazing sense of direction, wild animals slip and meet terrible accidents, something he came across during his tenure as forest officer at Rajaji National Park.

In the case of the dead leopard, Govind Kumar, who is a ranger in Basodi near Binsar forest, said, “The injuries on the leopard’s body suggest that it could have been injured by a wild boar with his sharp teeth. It must have happened when the leopard tried to hunt the boar and was attacked by his prey.”