An elephant was found dead on Thursday morning in the Athagarh forest range of Cuttack district.
The carcass was discovered near the Kulailo crusher field under the Athagarh range.
Preliminary investigations by the forest division suggest that the pachyderm might have died due to electrocution. A team from the Athagarh forest division has reached the spot and initiated an investigation into the incident.
Forest Minister Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia recently stated in the Odisha Assembly that an average of 81 elephants die annually in the state. Over the past three years, the primary causes of elephant deaths have been identified as poaching, electrocution, train accidents, road accidents, various diseases, revenge by locals, and natural causes such as falling from hills, drowning, and old age.
Additionally, elephants frequently roam from forest to forest in search of food, which sometimes leads to conflicts between humans and elephants when they enter villages.
The investigation into this latest incident is ongoing.
