A lone feminine wild buffalo died on Wednesday evening at a conservation middle in Chhattisgarh’s Sitanadi-Udanti Tiger Reserve. The state animal is on the verge of extinction with lower than 20 people of the species remaining in Chhattisgarh.
The wild buffalo was stored inside an enclosure within the reserve. An official mentioned there have been just one lady and three males on the conservation centre. According to an activist, there are not any extra feminine wild buffaloes left within the reserve, now one of many habitats of this species.
According to Ayush Jain, deputy director of the tiger reserve, a 7-year-old buffalo died at midnight on Wednesday. “The post-mortem of the dead animal is being done to find out what led to its death. Prima facie, it seems that the animal was suffering from pulmonary issues,” he mentioned.
Incidentally, the conservation middle was attacked by Maoists just a few weeks again. They had additionally set fireplace to a number of the huts contained in the enclosure.
The Chhattisgarh authorities has spent crores of rupees through the years to guard and improve the state’s animal inhabitants, by resorting to measures like surrogacy and cloning, however with little success. A wild buffalo clone born in Haryana’s Karnal was delivered to the state capital Raipur and is stored in Nandanvan Zoo. However, consultants solid doubt on its pedigree, saying that the clone additionally contained genes from the home buffalo.
“Once upon a time hundreds of wild buffaloes lived in this area. But since 1986, records show, there has been a steady decline in their numbers, with no more female buffaloes left inside Sitanadi-Udanti, one of their natural habitats,” mentioned an environmental activist from the state. .
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
