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One african elephant who lived in isolation in a zoo for more than two decades Indiadied from a rare rodent borne virusAn autopsy report revealed.
Officials said Shankar, a 29-year-old elephant, died in September from encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV), which can infect many types of animals, causing sudden death due to swelling of the heart and brain.
Dr. Sanjit Kumar, director of the zoo in the Indian capital Delhi, where the elephant was kept, confirmed this. the post mortem report was Positive for EMCV, this is said to be a severe disease with no visible symptoms.
“A few cases have previously been found in European zoos and other zoos globally. Typically, it infects pigs, but a wide variety of zoo animals can be affected, including big cats and many lesser-known species,” Dr Kumar said. Indian Express.
african bull elephant In November 1998, it was brought to India from Zimbabwe as a diplomatic gift from the country to then President Shankar Dayal Sharma.
He had been living alone since his partner’s death in 2001. She was temporarily housed with Asian elephants in the zoo, but living arrangements could not be made.
Despite a 2009 federal ban on keeping elephants in zoos, Shankar was moved to a new enclosure in 2012 where he spent most of his life alone.
For years, activists lobbied to move Shankar from a zoo to a sanctuary.
Zoo officials had earlier said that Shankar died the same day on September 17 after showing mild symptoms. It said Shankar was eating less leaves and grass, had diarrhoea, but was eating fruits and vegetables.
“Treatment was given by the veterinary team and the animal was under the observation of zoological staff,” the zoo’s official statement said.
However, he collapsed inside his enclosure at around 7.25 pm and died at 8 pm during emergency treatment.
“There were no reports of illness or abnormal behavior until September 16,” Dr. Kumar said at the time.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change ordered an investigation to determine the cause of death.
Dr Kumar said that EMCV is spread through rodents, but controlling them in open enclosures remains a challenge.
“Generally, rodents roam here and there and are difficult to control,” he said.
He added, “There is no stored food in the elephant enclosure – rodents go only where there is meat or fodder left for two or three hours at night. The elephant finds only leaves or grass, and only in the afternoon is it able to concentrate.”
The virus was first found in gibbons in Florida in 1945 and local outbreaks occurred around the world in the 1970s.
A senior official at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), which conducted the elephant’s autopsy and released the report, told the BBC that in India, the virus was first isolated in the late 1960s and that Shankar was the first “recorded” death caused by the virus.
“Cases of mammalian deaths due to EMCV may have gone unreported,” the official said.
The zoo has been closed since closing in August due to Avian influenza outbreak.
The only remaining African elephant in India is a male named Richie, who lives in the Mysore Zoo in southern Karnataka state.