A male elephant, aged over 50, was found dead near a waterbody at Maromar in the tiger reserve Palamu on Wednesday. This is the first death of an elephant reported this year.
The elephant was limping for the last five days and had swelling on its right hind leg. Sources said that the elephant was giving food a miss and just dragging on.
PTR officials has been monitoring the movement of the pachyderm because of the swelling on the leg. However, the animal was veryaggressive and it kept everyone at bay.
Field director PTR M P Singh said, “We were to bring in a veterinary doctor from Birsa Zoo to the buffer zone of PTR on Wednesday for treating the elephant, but it died.”
Sources said treating ailing elephants in a tiger reserve is a difficult task as the animal never allows anyone to come near it. No medication through mouth or any injection is administrable to a wild elephant unless sedated.
DFO buffer Mahalinga said the jumbo has a fracture on its right hind leg. It later fell near a water nullah at Maromar, which proved fatal for it.
H l Mahto, veterinary doctor, who performed the postmortem, said “The elephant was getting weaker and weaker over the last few days and when it fell on the ground it just could not survive the fatal fall perhaps it fell on the side of the same right hind leg which had a fracture.”
He further said “Treatment of elephant is really an ardorous task and this elephant died of fracture, swelling and exhaustion.” The carcass was buried where the animal had collapsed.