A 40-year-old elephant which was being shifted to Tamil Nadu’s Theppakadu elephant camp for treatment, after officials found it injured and tranquilised it in Masinagudi, succumbed to deep injuries on Tuesday. The elephant was spotted with wounds on the back and ears. An autopsy on the elephant revealed that the pachyderm suffered severe injuries on the back about two months ago. The elephant also suffered burn injuries on the ears.

Speaking to TNM, Deputy Director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (Buffer Zone) Srikanth said, “The early autopsy details revealed that the death is due to the back injury. The elephant might have suffered injuries two months ago. It also had puss formation which had reached its lungs. The injury could have been caused due to infighting or piercing of tree branches.”

“There is also a burn on the ears. There is no clarity yet on the cause of the burns,” he said. However, there are also speculations that the elephant suffered burn injuries after being attacked with a petrol bomb.

The 40-year-old elephant was roaming in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve zone with wounds on the body and forest officials captured the tusker using Kumki elephants. The elephant was captured using four kumki elephants, Wasim, Vijay, Giri and Krishna.

Deputy Director of MTR (Buffer Zone) Srikanth, Forest Veterinary Officer Sugumaran and veterinary assistant surgeon Theppakadu Rajesh Kumar were involved in the operation. On Tuesday, a tranquiliser shot was given to the tusker and it was lifted on to a truck. However, the animal died on the way to the camp for treatment.

In June, an elephant was found dead with bullet injuries to the ears in Coimbatore. The wound went up to the skull and forest officials retrieved the metal bullet during the autopsy. The elephant also had barbed wire injuries below the ears. According to some estimates, over 20 elephants have died due to various reasons including wounds and organophosphorus poisoning in the last one year in Tamil Nadu.