Coimbatore : A 25-year old wild elephant was found dead in a trench in Pothamadai beat in Anamalai range in Valparai in the district, Thursday.

On information that the pachyderm was lying in the trench, senior forest department officials rushed to spot and on checking, they found the elephant dead, department sources said.

The department suspect that the death could have occured when the elephant tried to cross the trench and fell in the pit and could not 
come out and breathed its last, they said.

The carcass will be buried after carrying out postmortem.