Hepatitis killed tusker, says report (Coimbatore) A Subburaj, Times of India May 13, 2022 Hepatitis killed the male elephant whose carcass was found at Varapallam in Pethikuttai reserve forest of Sirumugai forest range on Wednesday, says the postmortem report. Forest veterinary officer A Sukumar said the tusker aged between 12 and 13 did not take food for more than five days as the liver was completely damaged due to hepatitis and had nodules on it. “The elephant’s stomach to rectum was found empty as it did not consume any food for five to seven days,” Sukumar said. According to the forest department, 17 wild elephants have died in the Pethikuttai area since 2020, nine because of liver disease. This area is near the Bhavani Sagar Dam where elephant herds from Wayanad, Bandipur, the Nilgiris, STR, Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve gather between February and June every year. “We usually receive information about the carcass of an elephant in Pethikuttai reserve forest only a day after its death. By this time the organs deteriorate further and it is difficult to pinpoint the cause for the liver disease,” Sukumar said. “If we receive the information within 24 hours, we could collect the liver, spleen and send them to the laboratory. It would help study the real cause of the liver disease,” he added. Viral or bacterial infections and worms in the liver could kill elephants. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/hepatitis-killed-tusker-says-report/articleshow/91528145.cms