Elephant found dead in Cox’s Bazar forest

The decomposed body of an elephant was found in a forest in Cox's Bazar.

The corpse of the elephant, aged around 60, was found at the mouth of Monkhali canal in Thoinga Jora area of Shamlapur beat under Huyaikkong range of Cox's Bazar South Forest Division on March 13, reports our staff correspondent quoting Humayun Kabir, divisional forest officer of Cox's Bazar South Forest Division.

Forest officials, who buried it on March 14, said that it had died of old age complications.

Dr Md Shawkat Ali, Teknaf upazila livestock officer who had conducted autopsy on the animal, told The Daily Star that the female elephant "could have died of old-age complications and its body bore no injury marks."

"It had died probably around March 2," the doctor said.

However, Abu Naser Md Yeasin Neyaz, divisional forest officer of Wildlife and Nature Conservation of Chattogram, said that they were not informed about the incident and were not asked to engage in the autopsy which is common practice in case of any elephant death in the area.

There has been a spike in death of Asian elephants in the recent years. Electrocution, shooting, and ensnaring are the key causes behind the deaths. In last 20 years, a total of 122 elephants died, according to the Forest Department's data.