Bhubaneswar: A male elephant aged about 25 years was found dead at Soso village in Keonjhar district on Wednesday.
According to sources, villagers spotted the carcass of an elephant in a mango orchard and informed the forest department officials. The pachyderm strayed into the village from Hadgarh Wildlife Sanctuary in search of food and was seen roaming in the village for quite a long time.
On a tip-off, Forest Department officials reached the spot and initiated an investigation to know the exact reason behind the death of the tusker.
Two days back, another tusker was found dead at Basiapada village under the Sambalpur Sadar Forest Range.
According to sources, the elephant sneaked into the village in search of food. It came in contact with live wires while trying to break into a house and died.
It is learnt from locals that the elephant was seen roaming all alone in the locality for the last few years. The tusker used to create havoc in the locality by sneaking into the village during the nighttime and destroying crops.
