AN AUTOPSY report has revealed the cause of death of the world’s loneliest elephant – who lived in isolation for over two decades at an Indian zoo.
The 29-year-old elephant, named Shankar, is said to have died in September from the encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV).
EMCV is a rare rodent-borne virus that can infect a range of animals, causing sudden death due to heart and brain inflammation.
Dr Sanjeet Kumar, director of the zoo in India’s capital Delhi – where Shankar lived out his life in isolation – confirmed EMCV was detected in the autopsy.
He went on to explain it was an acute disease and Shankar displayed no visible symptoms.
“There have been some cases previously found in European zoos and other zoos globally.
“Generally, it infects pigs, but a wide variety of zoo animals can be affected including big cats and several lesser-known species,” Dr Kumar told The Indian Express.
Shankar first arrived in India with another elephant in 1998 as a diplomatic gift from Zimbabwe to the former Indian President Shankar Dayal Sharma.
Shankar’s companion died just a few years later, in 2001, leaving Shankar alone.
A former zoo official who chose to remain anonymous, said after his companion’s death, the zoo had tried to integrate Shankar in with the Asian elephants.
The plan ultimately failed, when Shankar and the other elephants were “aggressive towards each other”.
In 2012, the majestic giant was moved into a new enclosure, which left him in solitary confinement – despite a 2009 federal ban on keeping elephants alone for more than six months.
Shankar remained in the enclosure, alone, until his death.
He is understood to have died on Wednesday evening after refusing food for most of the day.
Within 40 minutes of collapsing, Shankar tragically passed away despite veterinary staff’s best efforts.
The ministry of environment, forest and climate change ordered an investigation into the cause of the death shortly after Shankar passed.
Dr Kumar said EMCV is transmitted through rodents but added that controlling them in open enclosures poses a real challenge.
EMCV was only isolated in India at the end of the 1960s and to date Shankar’s was the first ever recorded death caused by the virus.
The zoo in Delhi was previously closed in August due to an avian influenza outbreak.
The only remaining African elephant in India is a male named Richie, living at the Mysuru Zoo in the southern Karnataka state.
