After six elephants died in just 14 days at the Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha’s Kalahandi district, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday called on authorities to take immediate action to stop the deaths.
One more female elephant was found dead near a body of water in the Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary, a forest official said.
Previously, four female pachyderms and a calf had died there since February 1.
According to the 2018 census, the sanctuary had 17 elephants.
Kalahandi Southern Division Divisional Forestry Officer (DFO) Ashok Kumar, his team and veterinarians are camping in the area conducting surveillance.
“The death of the elephants is due to hemorrhage septicemia (HS),” said the DFO.
However, the DFO said there were no reports of the deaths of other animals at the sanctuary and of livestock entering the forest from nearby villages.
Expressing concern over the spate of pachyderm deaths, the prime minister ordered the departments of Forests and Environment and Animal Resources to consult experts from Odisha and abroad to stop more jumbo deaths.
CM @Naveen_Odisha expressed deep concern over the death of elephants at the Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary in Kalahandi. CM asked @ForestDeptt Y @farddept to take immediate action in this regard and recommended taking the help of experts from the state and abroad to prevent such deaths.
– CMO Odisha (@CMO_Odisha) February 16, 2021
During a review meeting conducted via video conference, Patnaik also directed the Kalahandi district administration and DFO to ensure the vaccination of livestock in villages near the sanctuary.
He said that all bodies of water in the sanctuary must be disinfected and water samples must be sent to laboratories for analysis.
Official sources said that there are at least 43 bodies of water in the sanctuary of which 25 have been disinfected so far.
The coordinator of the Center for Wildlife Health, OUAT (Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology), Bhubaneswar, Niranjan Sahu, after visiting the Karlapat sanctuary, said: “The death of the elephants is believed to be due to HS. The post-mortem report and the lab report of a dead elephant point to HS. “
Cattle become infected with HS if they are not vaccinated, Sahu said, adding that this is perhaps the first incident in which elephants are also infected with HS.
He said that vaccination of domesticated cattle in the villages located within the sanctuary and disinfection are in progress by veterinary staff supported by forestry staff.
District Veterinary Director (CDVO) Dr. Chaitanya Sethi said no deaths of domesticated cattle in the area due to HS have been reported so far.
The Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary extends over an area of 175 square kilometers and is famous for its lush dry deciduous forest, varieties of flora and fauna and animals such as elephants, leopards, Gaur, Sambar, barking deer, Indian wolves, wild dogs , wild boars, sloths. bear, giant squirrel Malbar and pangolin.
This apart from a variety of birds such as Peacock, Peacock, Hornbill, Red Forest Bird, Partridges, Spurfawl, Hill Myna, Brahminy Comet and reptilian fauna includes Mugger, Crocodile, Monitor Lizard, poisonous and non-poisonous snakes that are found in the sanctuary.
The forest is made up of flora such as Sal, Bija, Asan, Harida, Amala, Bahada and Bamboo and varieties of medicinal plants.
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