Madikeri: Two wild elephants were electrocuted after they came in contact with an 11 KV power line passing through Attimangala Coffee Estate near Nelyahudikeri in the district.

An 11 KV power line, passing above the coffee estate belonging to Koneriera Prakash and Mandepanda Suresh Changappa, had sagged to 5 ft. above the ground as tree branches had fallen on them due to rain and wind.

On Sunday night, the two wild elephants which entered the coffee estate in search of food and water, came in contact with the sagging power line and were electrocuted instantly. While one of the dead elephants was a 12-year-old male elephant, the other was a 13-year-old female elephant.

Coffee estate workers, who came to the estate for work on Monday morning, saw the two dead elephants and the Forest Department officials, who collected information from the estate owners, visited the spot and conducted an inspection.

The dead elephants were lifted with the help of a crane and were placed inside a truck. They were shifted to the forest area where post-mortem was conducted.

Following a circular instructing the Forest officers to leave the carcasses of wild animals in the open so that it will be food for scavenger birds like vultures and animals like hyena, the carcass of the two dead elephants have been left as it is in the forest.

In Mysuru, Kodagu and Chamarajanagar forests, a total of 67 wild elephants have died in 2021 and 10 have died between January & May 2022. Two more have died this month

As per the statistics available in the Karnataka Forest Department website, a total of 67 wild elephants have died in the forests of Mysuru, Kodagu and Chamarajanagar in 2021.

While 11 elephant deaths had taken place in Mysuru Forests, 22 died in Kodagu and Chamarajanagar saw 34 wild elephant deaths.

From January to May 2022, a total of 10 wild elephants have died with two more deaths reported this month in Kodagu, bringing the total number of wild elephant deaths to 12.

Four wild elephants have died in Mysuru forests, three plus two in Kodagu and three elephants have died in Chamarajanagar this year.