Three wild bears were today found dead at Somanathapalli village in Ganjam district, about 90-km from here.
Forest officials recovered the carcass of an adult female bear of about 20-year-old and its two male cubs, around two- and-half-year of age on the outskirts of the village located in the vicinity of a reserve forest.
"The animal bodies are decomposed. We suspected they died on Wednesday. The death of the animals, however, came to our notice today," said forest ranger Sarat Chandra Mishra.
Though the exact reason of the death of the wild bears was not known, the forest officials suspected that the animals might have died either due to the electrocution or poisoning, he said.
Local veterinary doctors conducted the post-mortem. Since the death of the bears was surrounded in mystery, the veterinary doctors also taken the viscera of animal for laboratory test, he said.
