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Jamshedpur, March 6 (Source - The Telegraph): Forest officials heaved a sigh of relief after the broken tusk of an elephant was found near the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary today.
Villagers of Harmadi and Suknara handed over the 9kg tusk of an old jumbo — who had been killed in a battle with its younger counterpart inside the sanctuary last month — to A.T. Mishra, the divisional forest officer (Dalbhum), at his office in Jamshedpur.
The gory fight between the tuskers lasted for three days after a herd was heading towards the sanctuary from Bengal recently. Two tuskers, who were part of the herd, fought for supremacy after reaching the sanctuary last month.
The foresters kept the death of the 55-year-old tusker under wraps , but they came in the open after recovery of the tusk — market value of which is pegged at Rs 10,000 per kg. Mishra said the tusker was badly injured after the fight and ultimately succumbed to its injuries.
“The fight lasted for three days (between February 24 to 26). We came to know about it on the night of February 26 but by that time things were over. We found the body of the elephant near Dalbhumgarh under Ghatshila sub-division,” he added.
“The abdomen of the elephant was found slit open with intestines popping out. One of the tusks was found intact but the other one was missing,” he added.
“We announced reward for those who would hand over the tusk to us. We had also announced that no case would be lodged or suo moto action taken against anyone who found the tusk,” Mishra said.
