Cause of death

Updated on 03 June 2015

Determining cause of death

Determining the likely cause of death can be extremely difficult, especially with older carcasses – signs can be very hard to discover even on a fresh carcass. It is up to the ranger to collect as much evidence as possible to be able to interpret the likely cause of death – we say likely because of this difficulty in certainty, and the evidence can be conflicting.

Never assume what killed an elephant or how it died. As with other data (such as sex or age), the aim is to gather as much evidence as possible for analysis and further investigations.

Natural causes

There are many ways an elephant can die naturally through odds and obstacles encountered in the animal’s daily life cycle. Natural causes also means and elephant death with no human interference, including old age and disease, but also unusual circumstances such as fighting or accidents. The following table highlights a few key factors and their observations for reference.

Factor	Observations	Notes
Old age	Adult; drooped ears, pink (light coloured) chin and back of ears, flappy skin.May remain solitary in close proximity to swamps before death.Worn out molar #6.	Worn out molar #6 is crucial.See image of old age prostration.
Diseases and wounds	Blood oozing from natural openings, swollen septic wounds, emaciated body condition before death, broken hip and limps	Wounds may originate from human conflict. Check for bullet wounds, arrows, or spears.May be difficult to determine origin of a wound if it has become septic over time.
Drought	Emaciated and thin, protruding rib cage and hip bones.No fat on bones (cut or break long bone to check).Lying still on the ground, especially near dams, swamps and natural sources of water	Distinguish from old age by current conditions (i.e. drought or other lack of water / food) and the presence of complete molars (i.e. not worn down).
Predation	Lion kills of elephant calves and juvenile animals.	Typically only of very young animals, sometimes those separated from the family group.There must be clear signs of recent blood from predator attack to assume that the cause of death was predation. Check for adult carcasses in the vicinity, tracking back the juvenile’s last position.
Accident	Falls from cliffs, valleys and steep slopes, if the carcass is found at the bottom of such features.	Illegal killing might still be suspected if tusks found missing; it is possible that animals were driven off of a cliff.
Accident	Stuck in natural water holes, mud or gulleys.
Fighting/aggression	Large puncture wounds on the body.Crushing injuries on small animals (juvenile / calves).	Happens in fighting bulls, or young calves attacked by adult females.
Fighting/aggression	Remains of tusks (ivory chips) inside body of dead animal.	In contrast, ivory trimmed by a poacher shows clear sign of machete marks.
Mating	A rarity but known to happen: a female can be injured during mating and die. Requires an eye witness account of struggle. A broken back, hip bone or legs on a dead adult or subadult female would be corroborating evidence.
Drowning	Body/carcass inside the river covered by sand	Sometimes carried down stream and never found.
Drowning	Usually in a lake or swamp after getting stuck in mud
Still birth	Dead calf still inside the birth sac.Dead calf with hair covering whole body and umblical cord still visible.	These usually disappear due to scavengers.

Human involvement

Look carefully and record evidence of human interference prior and after death.

Management

Elephants may be killed for management reasons: problem animal control, veterinary interventions, culling; there should always be a report or management decision attached to these actions. Hence, when an elephant management authority causes of death of an elephant, then there should be an official record or notification regarding the death – whether for problem animal control, legal hunting, euthanasia or culling.

Be aware that sometimes elephants get shot for management reasons and die but their carcasses are found late or never at all; someone else may find the animal and extract the tusks. If you found the carcass you may incorrectly assume an illegal killing – it is important to confirm other reports from PAC events to correlate with your own findings.

Death by management intervention is usually determined by prior knowledge – your initial report with other management staff to confirm cause of death, to avoid assuming illegal killing.

Factor	Observations	Notes
Elephant carcass report in the official record from patrol or problematic animal control	Record all evidence in the area – including if the carcass was butchered, if there are other wounds or signs on the body, etc.	Confirm with other management staff.
Carcass absent	Even if butchered immediately after shooting by PAC unit, there should still be evidence of intestines and a few bones left behind after butchering.	In some cases you may find only fresh blood remaining and nothing else.

Illegal Killing

Other than natural causes or management, or where the legal authority is not involved or consulted, other human activities that lead to death of an elephant are usually classified as illegal killings. This includes rangers and authorities, or anyone else, killing elephants in self defense or as retribution.

The following observations and their notes highlight a few clues to indicate illegal killing.

Factor	Observations	Notes
Fresh carcass	Poison arrows	Male elephants that die in pain usually have erect genitalia
		Animals does not usually die immediately; there are signs of struggle and disturbed vegetation from movement of the legs (see image). The elephant usually vomits and coughs before collapsing and death.
		Usually run for a short time before collapsing. Arrow heads recovered.
	Trophies absent	Missing tusks. Either chopped (with an axe or saw) or pulled out
		Chopped whole ear and half tail for cultural reasons (Samburu / Kenya)
		Certain body parts, including ivory, chopped for religious reasons
	Snares	Snare on neck or body of animal – usually only calves and juveniles.
	Snares	Swollen leg or strangled trunk with wire still on body
	Injuries and wounds	Apart from snares, leg wounds can be inflicted by spears, gunshots and traps.
	Injuries and wounds	Other entry wounds on stomach region and rib cage; spear, arrow and/or bullet wounds.
Older (Recent and old) carcass	Broken ribs	Evidence of spear
	Broken ribs	Absorbed blood on rib edges
	Bullets	Entry points of bullets on cranium
		Lodged in bones
		Lodged in the tusks
		Using a metal detector to find bullets in flesh, stomach contents and thorax area. For an older carcass, sweep the area of the rot patch and stomach contents with a piece of metal (i.e. panga/machete) and listen for metallic sounds to find bullets.
	Poison arrows	Arrowheads may be found in the carcass.
	Poison arrows
Surrounding evidence	Bullet cartridges	Spent bullet cartridges near dead animal or carcass
	Poaching camp	Dead elephant near an active camp with live or recent smoke and camp fire in remote locations.
	Meat racks	Elephant meat drying on racks near carcass location
Concealment	Covered with branches or bushes	Cut fresh branches using for covering a carcass
	Burnt	Burnt carcass in a remote location to avoid detection from ground and aerial patrol
	Skinned	Dead animal skinned and then the skin is either buried or through into the nearby river. Skinning greatly accelerates scavenger action and carcass disappearance.

Examples

Gunshot
Worn out molar	Worn out molars (top and bottom jaw) – Asian elephant. When elephants can no longer eat effectively they lose condition and die of starvation.
Old age / starvation struggle signs	Before death from drought or starvation, elephants may collapse and struggle for days to stand up, leaving deep marks (often wet from urine) around their bodies.
Relatively quick death showing disturbed earth from thrashing of legs.
Fall from cliff	Death resulting from a fall from a cliff; body is partially hung up on a tree.
Concealment	Covered carcass, EC2 (recent). Covered carcass, EC1 (fresh)