Female elephant dies of suspected anthrax

The bloated carcass of the elephant, which is expected to have died three days ago, was found with blood and fluid seeping by forest officials. “We suspect the animal could have been died of anthrax which is endemic to Siruvani forest range. Vital organs of the animal have been collected and will be sent to the laboratory in Chennai for ascertaining the cause of its death,” a senior forest department official said and added that the animal could have contracted with the infection from livestock. 

The carcass was buried in a deep pit to avoid the disease from spreading. The place where the animal was found dead was sanitised and the Animal Husbandry Department was alerted to vaccinate livestock in the nearby settlements to avoid spread of the disease to other domestic and wild animals. 

“A couple of weeks ago an elephant died of anthrax in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, which is close to Sirumugai forest. Meanwhile, a four-year-old male leopard was found dead in the Segur Range close to the core area of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in The Nilgiris on Monday. The carcass was found a kilometre away from the place where the four wild dogs were found dead last week. This led to suspicion that the leopard could have fed on the carcass of the wild dogs before they were disposed by the forest department. 

Forest officials said that the Leopard could have died two or three days ago. District Forest Officer (Nilgiris North) S Kalanidhi said that an autopsy would be conducted on the carcass on Tuesday, in the presence of NGO representatives, only after which the cause of death could be ascertained. Also, an aged sloth bear was found dead amidst bushes near Nalarapalli forest range in Krishnagiri district, on Sunday. It is suspected that it could have fallen off the nearby hillock and died.