Overview
- Rolex, a relocated tusker tracked by radio collar, was found dead near a stream in the Manambolly range after slipping on a rain-drenched slope.
- The monitoring team received location pings every 30 minutes, witnessed the fall, and reached the site about half an hour later due to a nearby herd, finding the animal dead around 2:30 p.m.
- The Chief Wildlife Warden set up a three-member fact-finding committee to inspect the site, GPS data, monitoring records, and treatment history, with a veterinary post-mortem ordered.
- Officials say early assessments indicate both Rolex and another relocated elephant, Radhakrishnan, died after falling from height.
- Radhakrishnan, captured in Gudalur on September 25 and released in KMTR in late October, died on November 18 with multiple skull fractures, according to forest department sources.