Foresters recovered the carcass of an adult tusker from Jhargram’s Lalgarh on Sunday morning, this being the second elephant death in the Jungle Mahal area within a fortnight.

The reason behind the death of the male elephant is not clear yet. Its final post-mortem report had not reached the forest department till late on Sunday.

Residents of Lalgarh’s Laxmanpur village spotted the tusker on a field near a primary school and informed foresters. Forest officials, with veterinary doctors, reached the spot where the animal was declared dead on inspection.

“We did a post-mortem in the presence of an executive magistrate as per protocol. There was no external sign of injury. The elephant was full-grown. We are waiting for the final post-mortem report in order to know the actual reason of death,” said Sandeep Kumar Berwal, divisional forest officer of West Midnapore, under which Lalgarh falls.

The male elephant that died on Sunday is around 30 years old and had two full-grown tusks. Many villagers assembled to see the carcass.

Forest officials said they had directed the veterinary department to monitor the health of elephants in the area more closely. There are around 200 elephants in four Jungle Mahal districts and a large number live in areas adjacent to human setllements, resulting in a human-animal conflict.

A carcass of an adult elephant as found on October 17 from Nayagram in Jhargram, prompting foresters to intensify vigil on the health of wild elephants in Jungle Mahal.

Sources in the forest department said that post-mortem report of the carcass found on October 17 held overeating as the cause of death.