Bhawanipatna: Raising concern among forest department officials and animal lovers, another jumbo was reported to be found dead at the Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary in Kalahandi district Sunday.
This is the sixth death reported in the last two weeks.
The carcass was reportedly spotted near Ghusurigudi drain in the sanctuary.
Forest Department officials suspect that ‘haemorrhagic septicaemia’ might be the reason behind the death of these elephants.
Meanwhile, a team, headed by Prof Niranjan Sahu from Centre for Wildlife Health, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) in Bhubaneswar, visited the area and carried out a detailed investigation Saturday.
According to Sahu, ‘haemorrhagic septicaemia’, a bacterial disease, is proving fatal for the pachyderms. “All the symptoms indicate that the elephants died from haemorrhagic septicaemia,” he said.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Sashi Pal had Saturday said, “We suspect that the infections likely happened from the elephants drinking the water contaminated by livestock in the nearby human settlements.”
In a bid to contain the spread of the disease, the forest department is taking several measures.
Immunization of cattle in several villages that are close to the spots where the jumbo deaths were reported has been started. And the water bodies in the sanctuary have been disinfected.
PNN