Nilagiri: The death of as many as six elephants within a period of last 14 months has sparked concern over the safety and wellbeing of the pachyderms at Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary under this sub-division in Balasore district, a report said Friday. The issue assumes significance as a tusker in the sanctuary was found ailing Tuesday, just two days after the death of a female elephant Sunday in Kuldiha sanctuary which has over 100 elephants. The ailing tusker stated to be within forty years of age is suspected of having contracted anthrax, forest officials said. It is undergoing treatment by a veterinarian Dr Muktikanta Sethi at Khumkut near Panchalingeshwar in the sanctuary under the supervision of Kuldiha ranger Anant Kumar Jena.
However, the exact reason behind its illness remains to be ascertained while members of the Wildlife Trust of India on a visit to Similipal toured Kuldiha and took stock of the animal’s illness. The death of six elephants within the last 14 months has sparked concern among animal lovers. They alleged that Kuldiha sanctuary, once a habitat of over 100 elephants, is no longer a safe place for the pachyderms to live. It is evident from the frequent death of the animals in such quick succession, they added. Local intelligentsia has ascribed the deaths to poaching while the concerned officials are yet to say anything on the contrary.
Among the six dead elephants, the decomposed carcass of a female elephant was found Hatikulia forest section under Mangalpur forest beat of the sanctuary, January 15 last year. Later the carcass of a female elephant was recovered from Guhalia in Tenda reserve forest, March 20, and that of a tusker from the backyard of a villager in Baragadia village under Nilagiri sub-division, July 18. The carcass of an elephant calf was recovered from Chemchata jungle July 27 and that of another female elephant was found in Kadamshola at Siadimal panchayat under Babandh forest beat of the sanctuary, December 10. The carcass of a four-year-old female elephant was recovered from the jungle near a temple under the Panchaligeshwar forest beat, February 27.
