The death of 13 wild boars reported in a gap of 20 days in the backwaters of Bhadra Reservoir in the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary has caused worry among officials and people nearby. Since April 1, the forest officials have noticed carcasses of 13 wild boars in an area of 500 hectares in the sanctuary.
The staff members noticed five carcasses on April 1 and one more the next day. The officers called in veterinarians to conduct post-mortem and take the samples for further examination.
The doctors had difficulty in collecting samples as most of the carcasses were decomposed. However, a couple of samples were sent to the Veterinary College and Hospital at Hebbal for examination.
S. Dhananjay, Director of Bhadra Tiger Project, told The Hindu that the tests reported negative of viral infection or poisoning of animals. “There is no alarming situation. The deaths have been noticed only in 500 ha, roughly 1% of the total sanctuary area. We collected one more sample on Sunday and it has been sent for tests and results are awaited,” he said.
