Endangered Asian elephant found dead in Sherpur forest

An endangered Asian elephant was found dead at a forest in Katabari village of Sherpur's Nalitabari upazila this morning.

Prantosh Chandro Roy, assistant conservator of forest of Sherpur district told The Daily Star that the elephant was first seen 1.5 kilometers inside the Indian border and is thought to have entered Bangladesh in search of food in a herd of thirty elephants.

"Locals were vigilant since Sunday but found the animal dead on a hillslope inside the social forestry area," he said.

A team of upazila livestock officers collected samples of the elephant weighing around five tonnes for autopsy, Prantosh said.  

The population of Asian elephants is plummeting at an alarming rate and it is categorised as endangered by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).