Ivory missing from eight dead wild elephants of Malayattoor, Vazhachal forests of Kerala
Tusks and tush (tusks of a female elephant) were found missing from the carcasses of eight of the 14 wild elephants found dead in Malayattoor and Vazhachal forest divisions of Kerala last year. A Special Investigation Team, which probed the “monsoon-associated elephant deaths in Malayattoor and Vazhachal Forest Divisions” between August 6 and August 31, 2025, has reported the loss of ivory and tush from the carcasses. The report prepared by a team led by D.K. Vinod Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forests, High Range Circle, Kottayam, found that tush were absent in five female carcasses and ivory in three males. It was also found that ivory was present only in two males and tush in two females. Ivory was recovered from the two carcasses found in Kandanpara and Manikandanchal on August 6 and 7, 2025. In three other cases, the sex of the animals could not be determined as the carcasses were found in an advanced stage of decomposition, the report noted. However, the SIT ruled out any possibility of any “deliberate or accidental human-caused mortality”, …
