Forest Department officials inspecting the place near Mettupalayam where a wild elephant was found electrocuted late on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement.
A male wild elephant died of electrocution after it came into contact with an illegally powered electric fence erected around a farm near Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district. This is the second elephant to have died of electrocution in the Coimbatore Forest Division within a week.
Forest Department officials said that a tusker aged around 15 was found dead in an elephant-proof trench (EPT) between the farm and the boundary of Odanthurai reserve forest of Mettupalayam forest range.
The owner of the farm, Thirumalairaj, informed the department around 11.30 p.m. on Tuesday that a wild elephant was found dead in the EPT.
Staff from Mettupalayam range headed by the Forest Range Officer rushed to the spot and found the carcass lying in the EPT, tangled with wires of the hanging electric fence erected along the boundary of the farm. The elephant’s tusks were intact and the carcass was at least two-day-old.
A team of veterinarians performed the post-mortem on the carcass on Wednesday (October 29, 2025) in the presence of department officials, said an officer from Tamil Nadu Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and members from non-governmental organisations.
The veterinarians found burn marks on the skin of the carcass, after suffering electric shock from the fence. Samples from vital organs were collected for forensic and histopathological examination.
According to the Forest Department, the battery of the solar hanging fence was dry and its energiser was defunct when the fence was inspected a month ago.
“It is suspected that the fence was directly connected to an AC power source as the battery and the energiser were not found in working condition on Tuesday (October 28, 2025). Officials from the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited inspected the spot. They will investigate whether the fence was directly connected to an AC power source and find out whether there were power fluctuations due to the incident,” said District Forest Office N. Jayaraj.
The department registered a case against the owner of the farm for the electrocution of the elephant. Meanwhile, the farm owner got himself admitted to a private hospital on Wednesday morning due to ailments, said the department.
Published – October 29, 2025 09:49 pm IST
