Odisha elephant tragedy: Wounded elephant dies in Athagarh forest

He said that the 10-year-old male tusker was responding well to the treatment and its wounds had also started healing.
Image used for representational purpose only. (File Photo | EPS)
Image used for representational purpose only. (File Photo | EPS)

BHUBANESWAR: Battling with life for nearly three weeks, the tusker who had been shot at by alleged poachers, succumbed to the injuries in Athagarh forest on Tuesday. The jumbo was shot at five to six places on its body including head, trunk and leg.

Despite efforts, the veterinarians and experts from Nandankanan and Centre for Wildlife Health (CWH) in Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) could not save the elephant, said Angul RCCF M Yogajayanand.

He said that the 10-year-old male tusker was responding well to the treatment and its wounds had also started healing. However, it died following high temperature on Tuesday morning. The exact cause of the death would be known after postmortem.

The tusker was found writhing in pain near a rivulet in Narasinghpur east range of the forest division on June 7.

Baramba-Narasinghpur MLA and former minister Debi Prasad Mishra had flagged the issue on Facebook and sought intervention of the Forest and Environment Minister Pradip Kumar Amat in providing treatment to the elephant.

An expert team from Nandankanan was sent to examine its condition and provide veterinary care to it on June 8. As its condition deteriorated, a team from the CWH was also roped in. The efforts, however, failed to yield the desired result.

Delay in treatment is alleged to be one of the key reasons behind the death of the tusker. Though the veterinarians found the gunshot wounds to be two to three weeks old, the forest staff of the division had no clue about it for a fortnight. Earlier, a female elephant had also died while undergoing treatment in Khuntuni range on June 2. The reason behind its death, though, is still not known.

Meanwhile, death of two jumbos in two weeks has raised questions on protection measures for the gentle giants in the division which has been grabbing headlines for wildlife poaching after the Special Task Force (STF) of Crime Branch exhumed remains of two elephant carcasses from Baramba range on June 2 and 3. Six persons including a forest guard and three watchers have already been arrested in this connection, while two foresters are absconding.

Yogajayanand said they have already formed a team comprising Athagarh DFO and ACFs from Dhenkanal, Angul and Athagarh to probe the delay in gathering information about the injured tusker and illegal possession of guns in the area. Efforts are also on to nab the two foresters in connection with the death and burial of the two elephants, he said.

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