CALCUTTA, May 4: Forest guards on Friday found the bodies of five wild elephants, including two calves, that were killed by lightning in eastern India, an environmental group and a veterinarian said.
The elephants were discovered close to a salt lick on the banks of the Raidak River near the village of Kumargram, some 800 kilometers north of Calcutta, said Animesh Basu of the Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation, a local non-governmental organization.
Dr D.K. Poddar, who performed an autopsy on the animals, confirmed they were killed by lightning, and also ruled out poisoning.
“Though it is rare for elephants – or for that matter any animal – to die of lightning, in this case the guards found all the five elephants dead in a sitting position,” Basu said.
“Had they been poisoned, their bodies would have been scattered and not at one place,” said Basu.—AP
