Elephant released into forest found dead

A sedated elephant fitted with a radio collar was found dead in Vettampara forest in Kothamangalam on Saturday.

On Saturday (June 27, 2026), a dead tuskless elephant was found in Vettampara forest, Kothamangalam, suspected to have injured himself by chewing explosives.

An elephant that strayed into human habitations was released into the forest by radar on Thursday (June 25, 2026). According to sources, a forest department team which was tracking the movement of the animal found it lying motionless in the forest on Saturday morning.

Malayattoor Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Karthik P. said the cause of death was not yet known.

“The elephant had an injury in its mouth and after treatment it was released into the forest. We have been watching its movements since it was released into the forest. It was observed that the elephant remained at the edge of the forest. When the team went to track the animal, it was found motionless,” said Mr. Karthik. He added that an autopsy was conducted.

Meanwhile, a complaint has been lodged with the Kerala Chief Wildlife Warden to investigate the pachyderm’s death. A complaint filed by Santhosh TS for ANEC Trust, Ernakulam, alleged that the animal was released into the wild despite reports that it had a mouth injury caused by a firecracker.

The elephant strayed into residential areas in Kottapady and Pindimana grama panchayats in Kothamangalam before being tranquilised, radio-collared and released into the Vettampara forest.

The complainant pointed out that the monitoring of the elephant after its release into the forest was not sufficient and that private elephant units were used for the capture rather than the rapid response team of the forest department.

“The operation was unnecessarily prolonged and the elephant was tranquilized and chased several times in a single day. The elephant was tied with ropes like a temple elephant, causing further injury to an already exhausted animal,” the complaint states.

She further said that the officials entered the forest for the post-mortem after 5:00 pm on Saturday, violating the rule that no post-mortem should be carried out after sunset, and that no recognized NGOs with expertise in the field were present.

Published – 27 Jun 2026 22:05 IST