Ecostani | Mysterious deaths of elephants in a forest reserve need a thorough probe

Poisoning is not a common way of killing elephants in India. Since 2019-2020 and until 2023-34, only 13 elephants have died due to poisoning.

The death of 10 elephants in Madhya Pradesh’s Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) because of high consumption of toxins from a local millet crop has raised two major concerns about wildlife conservationists, if the investigation so far, can be believed.

The death of 10 elephants in Madhya Pradesh’s Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) because of high consumption of toxins from a local millet crop has raised two major concerns about wildlife conservationists, if the investigation so far, can be believed. (Representational image)

First, is that the nature has ability to breed fungi, especially in tropical areas, which can produce high toxin levels that can cause the death of huge animals such as an elephant. Previous research has shown the fungi of the Aspergillus species, which experts said was found in Bandhavgarh elephants, can kill animals such as dogs, cats and marine animals. It is rare for them to kill elephants.

Different research works around the world have shown that fungal infections in both humans and animals have increased over the last decades because of an increase in breeding conditions due to global warming and climate change. However, there are fungi which cannot be transmitted to humans from animals and some can be.

Aspergillosis in animals covers a wide range of diseases from localised conditions to fatal disseminated infections, as well as allergic reactions caused by fungi belonging to the genus Aspergillus, according to a research paper published by the National Institution of Nutrition.

The embers of this genus are saprobic filamentous fungi commonly found in soil, decaying vegetation, and on seeds and grains, with an occasional potential to infect living animal hosts including insects, birds, and mammals. Although there are more than 300 known species in the genus, animal aspergilloses are mainly caused by A. fumigatus, and only rarely by a few other species.

In animals, aspergillosis is primarily a respiratory infection that may become generalised; however, tissue predilection is variable between species. Similar to infections in humans, animals exhibiting an inability to produce a normal immune response are at higher risk of infection. Aspergillosis may also occur in healthy animals under environmental stress and other immune-compromising conditions, the study said.

The School of Wildlife Forensic and Health (SWFH) in Madhya Pradesh, which examined a few of the elephants that had taken ill in the BTR earlier this week, has indicated the presence of toxins in blood and other samples collected from the tuskers in its reports, according to officials aware of the matter. They said that the herd of 13 elephants, of which 10 died over three days, had also raided swathes of kodo millet crop in the forest vicinity of the tiger reserve. According to an official, the autopsy reports have revealed that the tuskers consumed the crop in “good quantity”, which was infested by fungi of the Aspergillus and Penicillium species.

“There are many instances in the past when humans and animals have been affected with Kodo poisoning. However, this can be corroborated only with toxicological reports and other evidence. Teams are inquiring the cause of deaths and the nature of toxins may be ascertained from reports from IVRI (Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly) and FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory), Sagar,” the official said, requesting anonymity. The union environment ministry has set up a five-member committee to inquire into these deaths.

SWFH veterinary AP Shrivastava, a member of the expert committee, confirmed that the mycotoxins found in the bodies were produced due to the fungi. “In the initial investigation, mycotoxins, produced due to fungus in Kodo, were found in the body of elephants but the exact toxin and reason will be found in the toxicology report. The forensic report and toxicology report will be received by the end of this week,” he said.

Agricultural experts pointed out that it was “highly unlikely” that the elephants were poisoned by the crop as kodo in India does not require pesticides, and if it was poisoning, it may have affected other animals or birds also. “In India, kodo millets don’t require any additional expenses of pesticide. It requires only water to grow. Fungi present on Kodo millet can’t kill the biggest mammal in the forest. If it was the case then other wild animals or domestic animals must have also died but there is no such report,” said Amarnder Reddy, an expert working with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and is a part of the millet revival project.

If the concerns are true, then it brings us to the second concern: Whether the elephants were deliberately killed by local villagers, fed up with their continuous raids over crops. Ajay Dubey said that the kodo millet is a staple crop in tribal areas especially in Dindori, Mandla, Shahdol and Katni in Madhya Pradesh and if the fungi content was so high, it would have impacted them also. “In the forest, monkeys consume them in large quantities but monkeys are absolutely healthy so it is definitely a case of poisoning,” he said. A few forest officials off the record did not rule out the possibility.

Poisoning is not a common way of killing elephants in India. Since 2019-2020 and until 2023-34, only 13 elephants have died due to poisoning, according to data submitted by the environment ministry in Parliament. However, the most common way of unnatural death of elephants was electrocution. In this period, 392 elephants died due to electrocution and 50 were poached, many for being in conflict with humans.

A report in the Indian Express newspaper on October 3, 2024, said that there was a 20% decline in the elephant population in India compared to 2017, when the last elephant population estimation by the Wildlife Institute was conducted, as per the ministry’s interim report. The ministry expects the release the final report by June 2025 when elephant population estimation from the north-east will come.

Most of the decline has been in the states due to development activities and rising human-elephant conflict. Several reports from across the country have emerged in the past few years of brutal killing of elephants including Odisha forest department officials trying to hide poaching of elephants.

It's possible that locals killed the elephants in Bandhavgarh to save their crops; the possibility of a gang being involved does not seem likely. The environment ministry’s committee should conduct a thorough probe and its findings should be made public.