Rourkela: The decomposed carcass of an elephant calf was found in Raipiri Reserve Forest under Jarda range in Sundargarh district’s Bonai division on Sunday night.The carcass was spotted by local residents who had entered the Raipiri Reserve Forest under the Majuridima section and subsequently alerted forest officials. Following the information, Jarda range officials, the divisional forest officer (DFO) and assistant conservator of forest (ACF), Bonai division, visited the site.A veterinary team conducted the postmortem on Monday, after which the carcass was buried. Forest officials said the elephant was around three years old.Preliminary findings suggest the calf had become separated from a herd of around 10 elephants and had been unwell for the past few days. Officials said it was reportedly unable to walk properly before its death.Forest authorities have launched an investigation to ascertain the exact cause of death.“The samples collected from the deceased tusker will be sent to the Centre for Wildlife Health, Bhubaneswar. The postmortem report will reveal the cause of death,” said D Jerai, ACF, Bonai forest division.