Jumbo dies on last day of Dudhwa tourist season
LAKHIMPUR KHERI: A 19-year old elephant ‘Batalik’ died apparently due to ‘metabolic system failure’ on the last day of the current tourist season at Dudhwa National Park on Friday evening, an official said.
Field director Ramesh Pandey said, “We have lost one of our brave elephants which had expertise in tackling man-animal conflicts.” He added, “Batalik was ready for mating and had become violent three days ago.”
As the mahout found it difficult to control the elephant, the animal was sent to the Salukapur base camp, he said. Dr Utkarsh Shukla from Lucknow zoo was called in to treat it, he said. Veterinary doctors of Guwahati were also consulted, he said, adding Batalik sank to the ground on Thursday and passed away on Friday, the closing day of this year’s tourist season.
The field director said, “Preliminary investigation indicated metabolic system failure to be the cause of death.”
He added, “Three veterinary doctors will conduct the postmortem examination on Saturday.” Earlier, the Dudhwa tourist season came to a close as tourists and wildlife lovers left the park.
A total of 24,428 tourists, including 24,334 from various parts of India and 94 from abroad, visited Dudhwa during the season which began on November 15 last year.
The tourists sighted tigers on nearly 500 occasions, which officials described as unprecedented. As many as 400 of these sightings were in Kishanpur sanctuary alone.
DEOKANT PANDEY