Keonjhar, Jun 15: Two wild elephants have been found dead inside a reserve forest area in Odisha's Keonjhar district, with a preliminary probe suggesting that the animals were killed by poachers, officials said on Monday.

The carcasses of the female and male elephants were recovered by forest officials near Gurubeda area from Baitarani (B) reserve forest on Sunday following inputs from locals, a forest official said.

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The tusks of the male elephant were missing and efforts are on to ascertain the actual cause of the death of the jumbos, he said. Pregnant Elephant Dies After Eating Firecracker-Filled Pineapple in Kerala's Palakkad, FIR Registered Against Unidentified People.

The female elephant was around 20-year-old and the carcass seemed to be lying there for more than a week. The tusker, aged around 22 years, was suspected to have died around three days ago.

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Preliminary investigation indicated that the animals were killed by poachers as the tusks of the male elephant were missing. However, the exact cause would be ascertained after autopsy and a thorough probe, he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)