Nepal Elephant TB Control and Mgt Action Plan.pdf - Elephant Care ...

Nepal Elephant Tuberculosis ulosisControl andManagement agemenAction Plan (2011-2015)2015)1.1 IntroduconBackgroundElephants belong to the Family Elephandae inanimal kingdom and are the largest mammaliansamong terrestrial animals. Elephants are believedto have evolved some 50 million years ago. Outof about 350 species under 44 Genera of thisfamily, only two genera (Elephas and Loxodonta)and three species remain today – the Asianelephant (Elephas maximus), the African bushelephant (Loxodonta africana), and the Africanforest elephant (Loxodonta cyclo!s). The Asianelephants are distributed in 13 Asian countries:Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China,Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam,Cambodia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka.Taming of Asian elephant began in the Indusvalley (now in Pakistan) around 4,000 yearsago. Taming of elephants was done for variouspurposes. Elephants were trained and usedin warfare in India, China and Persia over thecenturies. In the past, elephants were extensivelyused across their range in mber industries,parcularly in logging and li!ing large logs, andsafari hunng. Today, elephants in south andsouth-east Asia are used in tourism and protectedarea management. In some places, elephants aresll used in circuses because of their ability tobe trained to perform, and also because of theirimpressive size. Elephants in Hindu communiesare regarded as a symbol of Lord Ganesh.In Nepal, elephants were used for Royal hunngsafaris for Royalty. Elephants were also keptprivately and were used as a symbol of status andmeans of transportaon. A!er the creaon of theProtected Areas, elephants have been extensivelyused in patrolling, surveillance, research andmonitoring, means of transportaon and wildlifetourism. Wild elephants in Nepal are confinedin the protected areas mainly in SuklaphantaWildlife Reserve, Bardia Naonal Park, ChitwanNaonal Park, Parsa Widlife Reserve, and nearbyforest areas. However, elephants from the WestBengal State of India frequently visit the forestareas in Jhapa, Morang, Udayapur and SunsariDistricts in the eastern lowland. A low numberof private elephants are also reported fromKapilbastu, Rautahat and Sunsari Districts.Elephants are prone to various infecous diseasesincluding tuberculosis, anthrax, haemorrhagicsepcaemia, foot-and-mouth disease, rabies,tetanus, encephalomyocardis virus, pox,salmonellosis, elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus infecon, and others. Among these,tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic, debilitang diseasethat affects capve elephants world-wide. TB is athreat to capve elephants, wild elephants, otherwild and capve animals, and humans.TB was first idenfied in capve elephants inNepal in 2002 (Gairhe 2002). Between 2002 and2009, there were seven deaths in which TB wasdiagnosed among government and NTNC-ownedelephants. Surveillance for TB in elephants in2