Chennai: On Tuesday (August 10), another baby elephant was discovered dead at Tamil Nadu’s Mudumalai Tiger Reserve after two carcasses were discovered a day earlier. A patrolling forest department team discovered the carcass of a female baby elephant with multiple injuries.
The department initiated an investigation on Monday after finding the carcasses of two animals at different locations. The probe revealed that the male sloth bear had died from electrocution while the sub-adult female elephant may have died from Anthrax.
According to the postmortem of the sloth bear, Deputy Director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Buffer Zone, L C S Srikanth, the bear got stuck between an energised wire fence, and died of electrocution. As for the action taken, he said that an investigation was done with Ramasamy (86), who had been taking care of the land where the death occurred. Mahazar seized the energiser, steel writs, and other accessories. Even though a case was registered, the individual was not arrested, given his age and the fact that arrest is not mandatory.
In the case of the female elephant, physical evidence indicated that Anthrax was the cause for her death. Anthrax is an infectious disease caused by a rod-shaped, gram-positive bacteria called Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax is naturally found in soil and commonly affects domestic and wild animals worldwide.
Forest field staff had found the baby elephant lying dead in the Masinagudi division. Pictures show bloodstains on the ground near the trunk and mouth of the baby pachyderm. The carcass of the elephant would be disposed of in accordance with protocol.
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, near the nexus of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. It is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. Animals such as tigers, leopards, elephants, Indian Gaur (bison), sloth bears are often seen at the Reserve.
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