Elephant Deaths: Central Team To Visit Karlapat Sanctuary In Odisha’s Kalahandi

Kalahandi: A Central team will visit Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary of Odisha’s Kalahandi district to conduct an on-the-spot assessment with regard to the death of six elephants in 14 days.

The Central Team from the Ministry of Environment and Forests is scheduled to have a meeting with Shashi Paul, acting PCCF (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden on Thursday. They will be reaching Bhubaneswar today.

The team members will reach the district on Friday (February 19) and visit Karlapat the next day for an inspection, said T Ashok Kumar, DFO South Division, Kalahandi.

On Wednesday afternoon, Kumar reached the sanctuary and conducted a detailed review of the measures taken for protecting the pachyderms of Karlapat. So far, six elephants of a herd of 8, died in 14 days here due to haemorrhagic septicaemia after being infected with Pasteurella Multocida bacteria.

On Monday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asked the authorities to take immediate measures to stop the fatalities. He had directed the district administration to ensure vaccination of cattle in villages close to the sanctuary and disinfection of water bodies in the sanctuary.

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“The elephants in the sanctuary are doing good and they are being constantly monitored. Three baby elephants are roaming freely with their mother and do not seem to have any form of sickness. There is no sight of infection in them,” Kumar said.

According to the 2018 census the sanctuary had 17 elephants. The death of elephants is due to Haemorrhage Septicemia (HS), said Kumar. Cattle get infected by HS if not vaccinated.

Also Read: Elephant-deaths-pccf-visits-karlapat-sanctuary-in-odishas-kalahandi/