Kushalnagar: A female elephant, which had come from Meenukolli Forest in North Kodagu in search of food and had got stuck in a slush at an estate pond in Rangasamudra village, died on Saturday after being rescued by the Forest Department on Thursday.

The female elephant, aged about 35 years, was stuck in the slush at the estate belonging to Parlakoti Jayaprakash and was rescued by the Forest Department. Though Hunsur Wildlife Division Veterinarian Dr. Mujeeb had provided treatment, the elephant was unable to get up and was in a critical stage.

RFO Arun, Mahouts and Forest Department personnel had tried hard to save the life of the elephant but in vain.

Later, the carcass of the female elephant was brought to Chiklihole Forest area in a JCB with the help of elephants Vikram and Harsha from Dubare Elephant camp where Dr. Mujeeb conducted post-mortem.

Following the post-mortem, the Mahouts offered puja to the dead elephant and later cremated in the forest in the presence of DFO Manjunath, ACF M.S. Chinnappa, RFO Arun, DRFO Ranjan, Deviprasad, Mahouts of Dubare Elephant Camp and villagers of Rangasamudra.

Tusker found dead

Meanwhile, a 40-year-old tusker was found dead in the forest area of Srimangala Wildlife Division. It is suspected that the tusker may have died about two days ago.

Srimangala Wildlife Division DFO M.M. Jaya, ACF Dayanand, RFO Veerendra and staff visited the spot. Veterinarian Dr. Mujeeb said that no injuries were found on the body and exact reason for its death would be known after post-mortem.