‘Makhna elephant may have died of acute pneumonia’

Post-mortem results of an adult makhna elephant aged around 25 that was found dead at Manaar beat section in Karamadai forest range on Sunday threw up indications of acute pneumonia.

The exact cause of the death could not be determined since the elephant was estimated to have died 72 to 84 hours earlier, and the carcass was in a state of active putrefaction. Liquefaction of muscles was noticed, said A. Sukumar, Forest Veterinary Officer, Coimbatore, who conducted the post-mortem along with S.T. Kavitha, veterinary assistant surgeon, veterinary dispensary, Thekkampatti.

A lacerated wound was noticed in front of the right eye region, and severe congestions were noticed on the lungs and the heart.

The stomach and small intestines were empty and the large intestines contained digested feed materials. The rectum contained many boluses of dung, it said.

The team collected only the skin and muscle samples were collected for DNA profiling analysis.

The carcass was buried at the post-mortem site.