CHENNAI: A 25-year-old female elephant was found dead in the Singara Forest area of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve on Thursday, said officials. The dead elephant was pregnant.

This is the first case of female elephant death in Nilgiris due to the rupture of the carapace due to the shock caused when another male elephant tried to mate the female elephant, said officials. Mudumalai Tiger Reserve of Nilgiris District is a forest area of 683 square kilometres.

A large number of wild animals including elephants, tigers, leopards, bears, buffaloes and deer are found here. The forest department officials found the dead elephant while they were patrolling in the Singhara forest area, which is the buffer zone of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

Forest veterinarians immediately conducted a post-mortem on the dead elephant on the orders of Mudumalai Field Director Venkatesh.