LAGATAR24 DESK
Umaria, Madhya Pradesh: In a tragic incident on Saturday, 65-year-old Ramratan Yadav was killed by a wild elephant near Madhya Pradesh’s Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR). According to BTR officials, Yadav was attacked outside the reserve’s buffer zone, in the vicinity where 10 elephants were reported dead earlier this week.
Umaria Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Vivek Singh confirmed the fatal attack, stating that it occurred in Devra village. Officials are investigating whether the three surviving elephants from the recent deaths were involved in Yadav’s death, though they noted the elephants were last observed moving toward the forest area in Katni district, an unusual movement pattern for BTR’s elephants.
Elephant Deaths Linked to Toxic Grains
The Bandhavgarh reserve, spanning the districts of Umaria and Katni, recently witnessed the deaths of 10 elephants over three consecutive days. Four were found dead on Tuesday in Sankhani and Bakeli under the Khitoli range, with additional fatalities recorded on Wednesday and Thursday. Postmortem examinations by wildlife health officers from the School of Wildlife Forensic and Health, Jabalpur, identified fungus-infected kodo millet as the likely toxin responsible for the elephants’ deaths.
Autopsy results indicated severe damage to the liver, lungs, intestines, and kidneys of the elephants, suggesting mycotoxin ingestion from the kodo millet. Following this discovery, the forest department has ordered the immediate destruction of kodo crops in affected areas to prevent further incidents.
