Over a year after death, beloved elephant Ramu exhumed, to be put on display in Odisha

“The objective was to scientifically preserve the remains to honour the legacy of the beloved elephant. The preserved skeleton will be used for conservational and educational purposes,” Chandaka DFO Binod Acharya told The Indian Express.

According to Acharya, the bones will be cleaned, fixed and displayed at the Godibari Prakruti Nivas at Chandaka — a process expected to take six months.

Beloved by officials and residents alike, Ramu, whom the department had unsuccessfully tried to radio collar in 2021, came in contact with a live wire set near the forest, and his carcass was found near a trench in the sanctuary after his death last August.

Ramu’s death came at a time when a surge in elephant deaths due to electrocution was drawing attention. According to a recent reply to the state Assembly by Odisha’s forests and environment minister Ganesh Ram Singh Khuntia, as many as 136 elephants have died in Odisha over the past 18 months, with electrocution the leading cause.