3 Elephants Fall Prey To ‘Herpes Virus’ In 25 Days In Nandankanan Zoo

Bhubaneswar: A 7-year-old female elephant ‘Kamala’ died while undergoing treatment at Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar today. Sources said the pachyderm succumbed to elephant herpes virus for which there is no proven medicine.

Including Kamala, three elephants have fallen prey to the herpes virus in the past 25 days at Nandankanan Zoological Park.

As per reports, there are only five female elephants including two sub-adults at the zoo. Kamala was born on August 1, 2013 and was brought to the zoo from Orissa Veterinary College in November 2013.

Earlier, female elephant Julie and male tusker Chandan had died due to herpes virus on August 25 and September 15, 2019, respectively.

“It is suspected that the death of the elephant could be due to herpes virus and efforts are on to ascertain the reason behind the outbreak of the virus,” said Nandankanan Deputy Director, Jayant Das.

Das further stated that two more elephants have been kept under observation.

Dr Alok Das, senior veterinarian at Nandankanan Zoo stated that “Following the deaths of some elephants in Dhenkanal, it was ascertained that the death of jumbos was due to herpes virus.”