BHAWANIPATNA: The three-member Central team stumbled upon the decomposed carcass of an elephant calf near Ghusurigudi stream in Karlapat wildlife sanctuary on Saturday. With this, the number of elephant deaths in the sanctuary has gone up to seven.
The dead elephants include five adult females and two calves. Earlier, Forest department believed that the spread of haemorrhagic septicemia (HS) has been contained since there were no more elephant deaths.
The team from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change detected the jumbo calf carcass during a field visit to the wildlife sanctuary.
Additional director, veterinary Dr Pratap Khamari, who accompanied the Central team, said the elephant deaths to HS has been proved by tests conducted by Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT). It is believed that other elephants were affected from the first pachyderm which died due to the infection on February 1.
“Pregnant elephants are susceptible to HS due to stress. After the death of the mother elephant, the two calves were either infected or died due to scarcity of food. It is easy for the infection to spread from from one elephant to another as jumbos live in herds. The Central team has also collected samples to reconfirm the cause of elephant deaths,” Khamari informed.
He further said it is suspected that the infection might have spread from cattle to elephants or vice versa.
Chief district veterinary officer, Kalahandi Chaitanya Sethi said in last three days, three deaths of domestic cattle have been reported in the area. In one case, it has been confirmed that the death was due to HS. Samples of two other cattle have been sent to OUAT for confirmation and the report is awaited.
Immunisation drive is underway in the villages and it is yet to be ascertained whether elephants were infested by cattle or vice versa, Sethi added. Meanwhile, the Central team has left for Bhubaneswar after its two-day visit to Karlapat wildlife sanctuary came to an end.