BHUBANESWAR: An ailing makhna elephant undergoing treatment for septicemia in the Chandaka forest division succumbed on Friday night.
An expert team from the Centre for Wildlife Health (CWH) and Nandankanan Zoo was providing veterinary care to the elephant. However, it failed to respond despite long hours of treatment and died of infection on Friday night, said a veterinary officer who was a part of the team.
“As per the preliminary report, the elephant died of septicemia. The makhna had a mouth lesion, which is suspected to have caused the infection. The tissue sample has been collected following postmortem to ascertain the exact cause,” he said.
The veterinary expert further clarified that herpes virus, which was being suspected in the case so far, has been ruled out in the preliminary report.
“As the makhna elephant wasn’t part of any herd, the risk of it spreading any kind of infection among others is also limited. We have, however, asked field officials and staff to be watchful,” said a wildlife official.