Shivamogga: Two male subadult Indian gaurs, approximately 5 to 6 years old, were found dead in a small pond near Hombuja Mutt in Humcha of Hosanagara taluk, locally known as Gulukoppa, in suspicious circumstances. According to farm owner Ramappa, the animals probably fell into the pond a few days ago. He noticed the bodies when he visited his areca plantation Sunday evening due to a foul smell.The forest department recovered the bodies from the pond Monday using earthmover machines. They struggled for hours to drag the bodies to higher ground as they had sunk in the water. Villagers rushed to the spot and assisted the department personnel in carrying the bodies to forest land, which was 2 kilometres away, for postmortem.Deputy conservator of forests (Sagar division) Mohan Kumar and ACF (Hosanagara division), and a local veterinary doctor, were present. The DCF said samples were collected and would be sent for examination.It is estimated that the forest area in the vicinity has eight Indian gaurs. The deaths of the wild animals sparked suspicion that they might have been killed by poison.Rafi Ripponpet, a social activist who exposed the killing of an Indian gaur last year, said the incident should be probed thoroughly.
