A male elephant calf was found dead near Sanpatrapalli village in Odisha's Sundargarh district today, Forest department officials said.
The carcass of the four-year-old elephant was found lying in a vegetable field after locals spotted it, DFO, Sundargarh, Arjun Behera said adding it was sent for post-mortem to ascertain the reason behind the animal's death.
Behera said the carcass, which had its tusks intact, is suspected to have died of food poisoning.
Earlier, the elephant was seen roaming the area in a herd of about 20 jumbos yesterday which had destroyed vegetables and damaged the boundary of a house in the village.
