Ten wild elephants, from a herd of 13 jumbos, have died possibly after consuming some poisonous substance at the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Madhya Pradesh within three days from Tuesday to Thursday.

Two elephants undergoing treatment in critical condition succumbed on Thursday taking the death toll to 10.
According to MP Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), V K N Ambade, one elephant undergoing treatment died on Wednesday evening while the other two on Thursday.
The remaining three elephants of the herd are said to be fine.

Earlier, seven wild elephants had died at the world famous BTR in Umaria district of MP till Wednesday afternoon.

Initially two elephants were found dead on Tuesday but during search and investigations launched by the forest department’s patrolling teams, five more tuskers were found dead.

Three more elephants were found seriously ill and senior officials and teams of veterinarians rushed to the spot to provide treatment to the sick elephants. The postmortem of the dead tuskers was also carried out to ascertain the exact cause of death.

Initial investigations surmise that the elephant herd possibly grazed on kodo millet crops that were sprinkled with pesticide leading to their deaths.

Madhya Pradesh forest minister Ramniwas Rawat expressed grief at the incident. The minister ordered an inquiry by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the matter on Wednesday.

Senior wildlife officials including National Tiger Conservation Authority’s Central Zone Assistant Inspector General Nandkishore Kale rushed to the spot along with officials of the state forest department.

Veterinarians from the School of Wildlife Forensics and Health at Jabalpur and from the Pench and Kanha national parks also rushed to the spot to provide treatment to the ill elephants and also carry out the postmortem of the deceased tuskers.

According to BTR Deputy Director Prakash Kumar Verma, the elephants were found dead in Salkhania and Bakeli beats under the Khitoli and Pataur Kor ranges of the reserve.

The New Delhi-based Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has also set up a committee to initiate an inquiry into the deaths.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had said on social media that the deaths of elephants at BTR is absolutely shocking. The former union forest and environment minister said that the population of elephants at the BTR has receded by 10 per cent in this one incident. He demanded a full inquiry into the matter immediately.