Berhampur: Forest officials on Sunday recovered the carcass of a wild elephant calf from Bhaleri forest area near Sumandal under Ganjam district’s Khallikote forest range. The female calf, aged about one-and-a-half years, was separated from its herd on Saturday.Berhampur DFO Sunny Khokkar said a preliminary report indicated that the calf died of asphyxiation. The exact cause of death would be known only after the autopsy report is received. The autopsy was conducted by local veterinary surgeons following the standard operating procedure, after which the carcass was buried, he said.DFO said three elephant herds were roaming in the area and the calf belonged to a 13-member herd. “We had constantly tracked its movement and forest staff saw it moving on Saturday evening,” he said. Forest officials collected samples and sent them to the laboratory of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology in Bhubaneswar for analysis to ascertain the exact cause of death.