Gonikoppa: Three elephants including a mother and a calf that had come in search of food were found dead at Nalkeri near Srimangala on Thursday.

The female elephant which was 35 year old along with its five month old calf died in the estate and a 25 year old male elephant died after falling into a pond in the estate.

According to the forest officials, the female elephant died due to internal injuries and the calf died as the mother fell on it. The post mortem was conducted by the Hunsur Wildlife Division veterinarian Majeed Khan.

“There are no injury marks on the body of the elephants. The post-mortem report has been sent to a laboratory in Hyderabad to ascertain the exact cause of death.” said Thithimathi ACF Sripathi.