Elephant found shot dead in Hosur forest

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Bullet in skull 

The team, initially, carried out an external examination of the carcass and perambulated the area around the dead elephant to draw possible scenarios that led to the death of the elephant. They also concluded, after determining the decomposition stage of the carcass, that the elephant might have been killed two to three days ago.

During the postmortem, the officials found a pellet in the skull of the elephant. After examination, the officials concluded that the pellet could be from a country-made gun.

The tusks that were intact were extracted from the carcass by the veterinarians and handed over to the forest officials for safe custody.

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Possible poaching

Speaking to South First, a forest official said that after analysing the wound and the point where it was shot, the elephant might have been killed by a seasoned hunter.

“Usually, the hunters, who want to kill the elephants with a single shot, aim at its forehead. After the elephant is dead, they leave the carcass for a week and naturally, it will be mutilated by scavengers. Then they will remove the tusks easily,” said the official.

All tissue samples that were collected during the postmortem were sent to a designated lab in Chennai for further analysis.

Further, the tail tuft of the animal was burnt and the process was video-graphed by the foresters.

An FIR was registered in the case and the forest department formed a team comprising the range officers of Jawalagiri, Denkanikottai, and Anchetty to find the poachers.

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Migratory Season

The illegal country made guns surrendered to the Hosur Forest officials

The elephants from Karnataka used to migrate between September and March from Bannerghatta and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary. The migrating elephants take the forest route of Thally, Jawalagiri of Hosur forest division and then move to fragmented forests like Noganur, Denkanikottai, Sanamavu, Shoolagiri, Melumalai and Maharajagadai reserve forests of Hosur and proceed onward into Andhra Pradesh.

Last year, during the migration the forest department conducted a drive to voluntarily surrender illegal and country-made guns in the villages attached to the Hosur forest division. A total of 111 guns were surrendered during the drive.

In the Denkanikottai forest range, 46 illegal guns were surrendered. In Jawalagiri , 40 guns were surrendered and in Anchetty, 13 guns were collected by the forest department.

Also, five guns were surrendered In Urigam, four in Hosur, and three guns in Krishnagiri division were taken by the Forest Department.