The Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad on Wednesday witnessed the death of Jamuna, a 44-year-old female elephant who was suffering from a prolonged illness.
On March 14 this year, Jamuna had sprained her hind legs and was being treated and under observation since then. Zoo officials said that she was under pain and even had trouble sleeping at night.
She was being treated by Zoo consultant Dr M Navin Kumar along with a team of veterinarians and other experts.
Coimbatore wildlife expert Dr Manoharan, Kerala-based elephant health expert Dr Jayakumar and veterinary medicine professor Dr Padmaja were among those called in to monitor Jamuna's health.
“We have provided doses of antibiotics to subside the kidney infection. The animal was kept under constant health monitoring and was under care to recover her health condition,” a Zoo official told Mirror.
As her legs continued going limp, Jamuna was shifted to the fodder plot ,where she collapsed on Wednesday and later succumbed to her injuries.
According to media reports, the postmortem report showed lung congestion, myocardial hemorrhage in the heart, congestion in liver and intestine and the cause of death was determined as chronic respiratory infection, enteritis and enemiasis.
Following Jamuna's death, some rumours on social media even claimed that she was the famous elephant used every year during the Bonalu festival in Hyderabad. However, authorities confirmed that the elephant used annually was Rajni, adding that she was healthy.
In February last year, Nikhil, one of the most iconic Royal Bengal Tigers at the Nehru Zoological Park, who was born and had lived in the city for the last 18 years, succumbed to his illness after fighting for his life at the zoo.
Nikhil was born in October 1999, and the 18-year-old tiger had been suffering with brocho pneumonia.
Nikhil was the twin brother of tigress Sakhi, who was ruthlessly murdered and skinned when she was only 13-months-old by poachers who sneaked inside the zoo park.
The incident which had occurred in 2000, sent shockwaves across the city.