Elephant dies in battle for supremacy

Prashant Acharya, EOI, SILIGURI, 20 Oct 2016: An old tusker was found dead this morning apparently after losing in a fight with a younger male of his species in a battle for dominance over territory at Kolabari forest under Panighatta range. Locals who discovered the dead elephant alerted the forest department which conducted an investigation into the death.

Forest personnel suspect the old tusker died after getting into a fight with a younger male as a deep wound was found on the animal's chest. Kurseong Division forest officer Suratna Sherpa said, “Forest personnel are not able to patrol the area as the forest is dense. We cannot provide definite details of the incident, but according to preliminary investigation, we believe the elephant could have died after getting badly injured on the chest during a fight with another tusker.”

The dead elephant has been sent for a post-mortem while forest personnel are on the lookout for the other elephant. According to locals, a herd of about 130 elephants have been loitering in the forest over the past few days.