A team from the Wildlife Department on Wednesday discovered the carcass of a wild elephant in the forested region of 14 Mer, near Byrnihat in Meghalaya’s Ri Bhoi District. Authorities strongly suspect that the animal died due to electrocution.
The carcass was found during a field inspection and investigation led by Leening Wahlang, Range Forest Officer of the Wildlife Department. Preliminary findings suggest the elephant might have come into contact with high-voltage power lines running through the forest, which likely led to its death. While an official post-mortem is awaited, forest officials are treating the case with urgency and have initiated further inquiries into how such hazardous infrastructure came to intersect with a wildlife habitat.
The presence of live electric wires in areas frequented by elephants raises serious concerns about human-animal conflict and infrastructure planning in ecologically sensitive zones. Authorities are expected to conduct a detailed probe into the incident and consider preventive measures to avoid similar tragedies in the future.