'Troublemaker' tusker found dead in Wayanad pond; Infection suspected

Wayanad: A four-year-old tusker was found dead in a pond near the forest zone at Nadavayal on Thursday morning. The elephant was a regular visitor, often found roaming in the farming belt of Nadavayal, Cheengode, and Neykuppa, for the last many weeks.

Local farmers, who had spotted the carcass in the morning, informed the forest department officials, and the staff reached the spot. Though there were doubts of electrocution, the postmortem ruled out any external reasons.

Farmers used to call the animal “kuttikkomban” (tiny tusker) because it was a dwarf and a regular troublemaker in the farming belt. Unlike other elephants that destroy crops, this tiny tusker regularly damaged portions of houses, huts, traditional bathrooms, and cages of dogs and sheep. According to locals, the elephant used to break the buckets and vessels kept outside houses, steal and swallow washing soaps, rice, and washing powder.

Chethalayam Range Officer Rajeev Kumar told Onmanorama that though the animal was always seen near a herd, it never mingled with the herd. "Due to its dwarfism, the herd might have expelled it," he said. The Range Officer ruled out any chances of poisoning or electrocution. The veterinarians who performed the postmortem suspect an infection in the stomach as the cause of death.

Samples from the elephant’s internal organs have been collected. "The samples would be sent for chemical examination to diagnose the exact reason for death", Kumar said. The carcass of the animal was later buried in the nearby forest.