Injured Elephant Dies After Surgery In Odisha’s Mayurbhanj

Baripada: The injured elephant that underwent surgery in a forest in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district on Sunday succumbed on Monday.

Some villagers had found the elephant unconscious in Masinakathi under Betanoti forest range of the district and informed the Forest officials. A team of veterinary surgeons from the Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT) in Bhubaneswar had gone to check the elephant.

They found a deep injury in the tusker’s leg and a plastic wire tied around the wound. The veterinary team headed by Dr Indramani Nath of OUAT performed a surgery after tranquilising the elephant on Sunday.

More than 50 officials including DFO, OUAT team members and Similipal Sanctuary’s medical team as well as members of Baripada Wildlife Division were present during the surgery. The tusker was stated to be in a stable condition after a long surgery.

But the elephant was found dead on Monday morning. While the cause of its death has not been ascertained, the Forest officials said it would be known after post-mortem.