The carcass of an adult wild tusker was recovered from the Alinagar area of Dalgaon forest under Dalgaon forest range of in Alipurduar forest division on Tuesday morning.
Foresters suspect that the elephant had died a few days back as the corpse had started decomposing but ruled out the chance of poaching as both its tusks were unharmed.
Later after the autopsy, the vets confirmed that the 55-year-old jumbo had died of old age.
Sources said the foresters from Dalgaon beat and Dalgaon range and also a team from Jateswar police camp reached Alinagar after some villagers dwelling in the area informed them about rotten smell emanating from the adjoining Dalgaon forest. They suspected that some animal might have died and informed foresters.
“On reaching the spot, our men could spot some wild elephants roaming nearby. They had to wait for some time to walk up to the carcass and initiate the process for post mortem,” said a forester.
Rajendra Jakhar, the chief conservator of forests (wildlife, north), said a probe had been initiated. “The elephant has died because of old age. It is a natural death. The animal seems to have died a few days ago. We are trying to find out why the carcass was not spotted earlier,” he added.