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Bengal suspends elephant safari in Jaldapara after anthrax kills 5 rhinos
The forest department is vaccinating its captive elephants against anthrax.
Elephant safaris at Jaldapara National Park in north Bengal has been suspended till Wednesday after five rhinoceroses died of anthrax in the park since Tuesday, forest officials said Sunday. Jeep safaris will, however, continue to take tourists inside the park.
The state forest department has also deployed drones to find out if any other animals have died or have fallen ill in the forest.
“We had to suspend the elephant safaris till Wednesday as all the captive elephants are being vaccinated for anthrax after the death of five rhinos at JNP,” said Ujjwal Ghosh, chief conservator of forest (North).
The JNP has 78 kunki elephants (captive and trained elephants). While around five are used for elephant safaris, the rest are used by the forest department for patrol duties.
“Every day around four to five elephants, each carrying four persons, used to take tourists inside the forest at least three times a day. This has been stopped till Wednesday. While on one hand the elephants are being vaccinated against anthrax and would need some rest, we would also need additional elephants for sanitizing the area and gear up our patrolling,” said Ghosh, adding that jeep safaris are meanwhile being allowed.
JNP spreads over more than 200 sq km in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas and is known for its one-horned rhino. It has the highest rhino population after Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
The rhino population in West Bengal had shot up from 22 in 1986 to more than 280 at present. While Jaldapara has more than 230 of these animals, Gorumara National Park also in north Bengal, has around 50 rhinos. Forest officials said that there is no need to vaccinate all rhinos in the park.
In 1993 a few rhinos had died when there was an outbreak of anthrax at Jaldapara National Park.
Forest authorities have identified a seven square kilometer area in the core zone of the park where the disease has spread. There are around 13 rhinos in that area. The department has started vaccinating all the 13 rhinos.
Forest officials are using the elephants to reach the affected area and vaccinate the rhinos from a distance with the help of dart guns.
