Bodies of a young female elephant and two calves were found in a brook near the Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary off the Nerymangalam Forest Division in Idukki district. Wildlife Department officials said the pachyderms could have died after falling from the top of the 100-feet waterfall in the brook.
Local residents agreed that the water flow in the brook had been strong for the past several days due to heavy rains but pointed out that herds of elephants had perhaps been using the brook as routes of migration (Aanathara) as the original routes had either been lost due to encroachment.
They also pointed out that the dependence of elephants on the banks of the brook for food had increased in the recent years because bamboo clusters had exhausted due to unauthorized clean felling of trees in the forest area. Either of these could have been the reason for the accident, they said.
The bodies of the calves were found by the local residents on Friday evening and that of the elephant on Saturday. Doctors who performed post-mortem on the bodies said that the pachyderms could have died of the impact of the fall from op of the 100-feet waterfall in the brook.
The brook above the fall was very wide and elephants used to come here in herds, local residents said. The main attraction here was the bamboo clusters on the banks, they added. The two calves and the elephant could have been washed away by the strong current in the brook following the heavy rains of Thursday, which had caused a flood-like situation in the low-lying areas downstream, they said.
Forest officials out poaching as cause of death of the pachyderms as the elephant was very young and the calves were in fact just baby elephants. Also there were no marks of cut or deep wounds on the bodies. They also said that the broken tree twigs and uprooted bushes found near the bodies and on the banks suggested that the brook had been swollen.
People living in areas downstream said the main problem the elephants were facing here was that their original migratory roots and usual paths had vanished due to encroachment. Due to this, the elephants could have begun to use the brook as a path. They complained that the Forest Department was not viewing seriously the encroachment and illegal felling of trees had also led to the exhaustion of bamboo clusters, the main food of wild elephants.
