A day after nine bonnet macaques were found dead in Palode, the necropsy has not provided any conclusive cause of death. The samples will now be sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, to confirm if the monkeys were infected with Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), a tick-borne viral hemorrhagic fever.

Officials with the Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) said that samples will also be sent to the chemical examiner's lab for poison testing. "Necropsy did not reveal anything conclusive. There weren't lesions suggestive of an infection. We will send samples to rule out poisoning and KFD," an official said. 

The Forest Department has registered an FIR and recorded a case of unnatural death. Forest officials said that they are monitoring the nearby areas to spot any possible outbreak. The bodies of monkeys were found at Mankayam in Palode on Sunday. Residents who found the carcass in the rivulet reported the matter to the forest department. 

The Rapid Response Team, Palode, shifted the caracasses to Peringamala. Residents have reportedly told the officials that some of the monkeys were frothing at the mouth and showed signs of chill before they died. The necropsy was conducted at the State Institute of Animal Diseases, Palode.

Residents in the area where the carcasses were found have often complained of monkeys destroying agricultural produce and raiding their homes in troops.