Poachers kill 12-year-old female elephant; take away flesh to Assam-Meghalaya border

Poachers killed a 12-year-old female elephant and took away its flesh along with the trunk at Belguri Loshi Hills area in Rani Reserve Forest along the Assam-Meghalaya border. 

On Saturday, the carcass and an empty 303 Rifle cartridge were retrieved. It has been speculated that the poachers killed the elephant using a rifle.

“The carcass of a 12-year-old female elephant was found at Belguri along the Assam-Meghalaya border. It was believed to be killed for meat and the incident had taken place some 15 days ago”, said Rohini Ballav Saikia, divisional forest officer (DF), East Kamrup Division.

An official of the Rani Police Outpost said, “The elephant was suspected to have been killed for its meat and especially the trunk which many people consider to be a delicacy.”
While a few people had seen the wounded elephant at Loshi Hills on Friday night and had told the beat officer at the Nalapara Beat office, the forest team was unable to reach the remote location right away owing to darkness.

However, a team of forest officials led by range officer Jayanta Goswami reached the spot on Saturday morning and found the carcass of the elephant, following which a team of police personnel from Rani Police Station (Meghalaya) and Nangpu Forest Range (Meghalaya) also visited the spot to take stock of the situation. 

Another team of forest officials led by East Kamrup Forest Division DFO Rohini Ballav Saikia and ACF AK Deka also visited the site of the incident. DFO Saikia also added that sniffer dogs used for investigation and strong joint operations will be launched against the poachers by Assam and Meghalaya forest and police officials.

Later the team confirmed that people from Meghalaya killed the elephant for meat.
Veterinary doctors Dr. Narayan Dewri and field assistant Ashim Das who conducted the post-mortem of the elephant said that the elephant died 15 days before. The animal was further buried at the site.
Local people of the area alleged that many times in the night hours, people heard the gun firing sounds in the forest reserve area. After that people informed the nearest forest office, but the forest department never took any action against it.