Bhubaneswar, May 22 -- Wildlife experts and veterinarians have stressed the urgent need for well-monitored disease surveillance, vaccination, rapid diagnosis, and scientific management to protect Odisha's dwindling elephant population from fatal diseases and growing human-elephant conflict.
Asian elephants, recognised as India's National Heritage Animal and listed as an endangered Schedule-I species by the IUCN, have witnessed a sharp decline of over 50 per cent in the last three decades due to habitat fragmentation, shrinking forest cover, shortage of fodder and water, poaching, and climate-induced stress.
Speaking on the issue, Indramani Nath, Visiting Professor and Head of the Department of Surgery and Radiology at the School of Veteri...