Chennai, May 11 (IANS): A Tamil Nadu forest patrol team found the carcass of a tusker at the Pethikuttai forest area in Sirumugai range under Coimbatore forest division on Wednesday - the fourth such death this year, officials said.
The forest team said that three other elephants were found dead in this forest area early this year.
Officials said that the tusks of the elephant aged between 8 and 11 were intact and no injury marks were found on the carcass.
Forest Department officials said that after finding the dead bodies of elephants earlier at the Pethikuttai forest range, guards were asked to conduct regular patrols and a patrol team on Wednesday found the carcass of the elephant.
An autopsy of the dead tusker will be conducted on Thursday, the officials said.
The Pethikuttai forest range is over 2,000 acres and borders the storage area of the Bhavanisagar dam.