Injured jumbo succumbs

 Dhenkanal: A 15-year-old elephant died while undergoing treatment at Ka-pilash Rescue Centre on Monday. The tusker, which was suffering from mouth injuries, was rescued from Athagarh forest division and brought to the centre on December 10.

A joint team comprising members from Dhenkanal and Chandaka Rapid Re-sponse Team (RRT), led by Indramani Nath and Ashit Chakraborty, tran-quilised the animal on December 10. During examination, the team found that the elephant’s tongue was severed and its jaw had injury marks. Due to the critical nature of the injuries, the tusker was shifted to Kapilash Rescue Centre for treatment.

Efforts were made to stabilise the elephant by using antibiotics, saline drips, anti-inflammatory medications and blood enhancers.

However, the prognosis remained poor as the elephant was unable to consume food due to its injuries. The treatment continued with attempts to make the tusker stand despite its condition.

On Monday, at around 1 am, the elephant exhibited signs of laboured breath-ing.

Life-saving steroids were administered but it proved ineffective. Shortly afterwards, the elephant succumbed to injuries..

Dhenkanal Divisional Forest Officer Sumit Kumar Kar said the tusker’s injuries were critical. The carcass was sent for post-mortem.