Elephant carcass found in tiger reserve with tusk missing

The forest department has formed a special team to nab poachers who chopped off a tusk from an elephant carcass, which was found in Sadayamparai reserve forest near Kattupatti tribal settlement at Udumalpet forest range of Anamalai Tiger Reserve, on Sunday.

Frontline staff of the Udumalpet forest range had found the carcass on Sunday evening. Bullet injuries were not found on the carcass, forest veterinary officer A Sukumar said.

“The poachers used an axe to remove the left tusk. Only experienced poachers can remove tusks like this,” he said. “The male elephant was about 35 years old and had died about five days ago. There were no external injuries on the carcass. We have collected samples for laboratory test and are waiting for the test result to ascertain the cause of death.”