Another wild elephant found dead in Assam

Guwahati, Oct 7 (IANS) Within a gap of two days, two wild elephants have been found dead in Assam, officials said.

On Friday, locals in Golapara district spotted a dead elephant in a field in the Kankata area of the district.

While the villagers claimed that the elephant probably came out of the forest in search of food, the exact cause of death is yet to be ascertained.

A senior official of the forest department said that they are trying to find out the reason behind the death of the wild elephant.

On Wednesday, an elephant had died due to electrocution in Gosaigaon district. The incident occurred at the Chanfan forest range near Peripur.

Then also the villagers had said that the elephant came out of the forest in search of food and accidentally came in contact with high-tension electric line hanging much below the prescribed height.

In recent times, elephants have often been seen coming out of the forest area in search of food. As result, human-elephant conflicts have also increased in the state due to which nearly half a dozen human lives were lost in the last few months.

Meanwhile, environmentalists have claimed that Assam has been continuously losing its forest cover for the past decade and this has become a matter of concern for the state government.

The forest officials have chalked out a few measures to increase the forest cover in the state, an official informed.