A female elephant's bone remains were found on 8 August 2026 in Gogua Reserve Forest, Riamal Range, in Odisha's Debagada district. Forest officials say the death was likely due to natural causes, though a postmortem report from the Centre for Wildlife Health, OUAT Bhubaneswar, is awaited to confirm the cause.

About Asian Elephants

  • Conservation Status: Listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; classified Endangered by the IUCN.
  • India's Share: India holds over half the world's wild Asian elephant population, concentrated across the northeast, central, southern, and northwestern regions.
  • Odisha's Role: Odisha is a key elephant-corridor state, where natural deaths, disease, and human-elephant conflict remain major causes of mortality.

Source: Pragativadi