Days after there were nationwide outrage over the death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala, two more elephants have died in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur Forest Division - one of them was pregnant.
The exact cause of the deaths is not confirmed yet as contradictory reports emerged.
According to a report in The Print, the death may have occurred due to poisoning. The report quoted official as saying, “It appears that both the elephants belonged to the same herd, and were killed due to poisoning."
It, however, maintains that the post-mortem report is yet to come.
“It seems that the only pond in the area was deliberately poisoned, and the elephants consumed that water and died due to poisoning,” the official told The Print.
Earlier, ANI reported that the pregnant elephant that died on Tuesday was suffering from liver infection.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change, too, has acknowledged the incident and asked the State Forest Department to take appropriate action.
The Quint, had earlier, reported about fakes claims around the unfortunate death of a pregnant elephant, in Palakkad district in Kerala on 27 May.
Initial reports had claimed that the elephant was killed but the government, later claimed that it may have been an accident.
“Primary investigations revealed, the elephant may have accidentally consumed the fruit. Ministry is in constant touch with Kerala Govt & has sent them detailed advisory for immediate arrest of culprits & stringent action against any erring official that led to elephant's death," the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had said on Twitter.
(With inputs from The Print & ANI)
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