The death of three elephants within a span of 25 days in the Nandankanan Zoological Park here has raised concern among animal lovers and environmentalists in the State.
A seven-year-old female elephant ‘Kamala’ died while undergoing treatment at Nandankanan on Thursday. Sources said the pachyderm succumbed to herpes virus for which there is no proven medicine.
“It is suspected that the death of the elephant could be due to herpes virus and efforts are on to ascertain the reason behind the outbreak of the virus,” said Nandankanan Deputy Director Jayant Das.
Kamala was born on August 1, 2013 and was brought to the zoo from the Orissa Veterinary College in November 2013.
Earlier, female elephant ‘Julie’ and male tusker ‘Chandan’ had died due to herpes virus on August 25 and September 15, 2019, respectively.
Reports said there are only five female elephants, including two sub-adults, at the zoo now.