SAMBALPUR: Battling for life since the last five days, the ailing tusker which had sought refuge in a pond at Samplahara in Badasahi range under Sambalpur Forest Division died hours after it was brought out of the water body on Tuesday.
Divisional forest officer (DFO) of Sambalpur Vishwanath Neelannavar said despite all efforts, the 12 -year-old elephant could not be saved as it did not respond to treatment. The tusker had stopped eating since its treatment started.
Sources in the Forest department said the tusker was spotted with a wound on its forelimb on May 29. Subsequently, it was tranquilised and treated by doctors from Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar on June 2. As the wound did not heal, the elephant developed septicemia and suffered from high fever because of the injury. It waded into the pond in the night of June 16 to neutralise its body temperature.
Forest officials of Sambalpur then contacted veterinary doctors of OUAT and Angul for treatment of the elephant. Thought the elephant could not be brought out of the pond, it was guided to the embankment of the water body with help of ropes on Sunday and given treatment there. On Tuesday, forest and fire service personnel brought the pachyderm out of the pond using a hydra crane. However, the elephant succumbed hours after it was moved out of the water body.
“Veterinary doctors carried out autopsy on the elephant carcass. The samples of various organs will be analysed to find the cause of its death. However, the exact reason behind the tusker’s death can be ascertained only after we receive the postmortem report,” the DFO added. Forest officials suspect that the tusker might have sustained the injury in a fight with another elephant.