Days after 10 deaths, MPs form advisory group on wild elephant rehabilitation and treatment

Police and other officials at Bandagarh Tiger Reserve in Umaria district after the death of 10 elephants. File photo – | Photo credit: –

Days after 10 wild elephants died in the Bandagarh Tiger Reserve, the Madhya Pradesh government has set up an advisory committee for better management of wild elephants in the state.

According to officials, the order was issued by the forest department on Wednesday to improve rehabilitation and treatment of rescued or captured wild ivory.

VKN Ambade, Chief Conservator of Forests and Wildlife (PCCF) and Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW) of Madhya Pradesh tells us hinduism The nine-member team will be headed by Additional Chief Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife).

“At MP, this (managing wild elephants) is a new task for us, so we want to ensure that proper procedures are followed for capture, treatment and rehabilitation before releasing them into the wild,” he said, adding Authorities will ensure ground staff do not take similar measures.

Mr. Ambad also said that the team will also include field directors, veterinarians and elephant experts from Bandhavgarh and Sanjay Gandhi National Parks, who can formulate procedures after due deliberations.

In the last three days of October, 10 tuskers died, suspected of poisoning from consumption of kodo millet crops, prompting the state government to take steps to strengthen elephant management.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav also ordered suspension of two senior forest officials of Bandavgarh for dereliction of duty in handling the situation. He also said that an ivory management working group would be set up and officials would be sent to states with large elephant populations for training.

A toxicology report based on gut testing received earlier this week also found traces of cyclopiacin in their bodies and that they had consumed kodo plants infected with the fungus.

While the report by ICAR’s Indian Veterinary Research Institute Bareilly did not confirm the exact cause of death, it ruled out poisoning.

Officials are now awaiting more test reports from the Wildlife Forensic and Health Institute, Jabalpur, the National Forensic Science Laboratory, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, and the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, to get a clearer picture of the exact cause of death.