THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A baby elephant, found in a critical condition with a festering wound in its mouth at Neryiamangala division in Ernakulam district, has died, officials said.
Examination of the carcass revealed that the elephant in the 10-15 age group had been suffering from a deep and severe wound in the mouth at least for two weeks, Wildlife officials said today.
When the elephant was spotted a few days back it was in a critical condition and did not respond to treatment. Its condition was so worse that it could not even take water, the sources said, adding the elephant died yesterday.
Though the exact cause was yet to be ascertained, the wound could be caused by biting crackers placed in some farm by farmers to ward off wild animals, Wildlife Department Veterinarian Abdul Gafoor said.
Wildlife officials ruled out the tusker being a victim of poaching.
It was normal for elephants to stray into villages on the fringes of forest in search of softwood and fall victims to this kind of injury, the sources said.
