Traffic was blocked for more than two hours along the Theppakadu to Masinagudi Road in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) on Tuesday after an elderly male elephant died on the middle of the road between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Forest Department staff, who found the carcass of the elephant on early Tuesday morning, re-routed traffic to Udhagamandalam via Gudalur, before a postmortem was ordered to ascertain the cause of death.
As the elephant was found dead on the middle of the road, there were concerns that it could have sustained injuries due to a vehicle hit. However, Forest officials, who performed a preliminary inquest into the animal’s death, stated that there were no external injuries apart from superficial wounds to the animal’s legs.
P. Arunkumar, Deputy Director of MTR (Buffer Zone), said that following the completion of the postmortem, it was confirmed that the elephant, believed to be over 50-years old, had died of natural causes. “The wounds to the leg could have been sustained as the animal fell due to its weak condition,” said Mr. Arunkumar, adding that the carcass of the elephant would be left for scavengers as apart from its advanced years, and general weakness, the animal didn’t exhibit any other signs of illness.
Published – September 02, 2025 08:39 pm IST
