Elephants in BTR not poisoned, Kodo millet possible source of toxicity: MP official

Bhopal, Nov 5 (PTI) Neurotoxin cyclopiazonic acid was found in the visceras of ten elephants that died in Madhya Pradesh's Bandhavgarh reserve but it was not a case of `poisoning', a senior forest department official said on Tuesday.

Viscera reports suggested that toxicity came from the consumption of large quantities of Kodo millet plants, said Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) L Krishnamoorthy who headed a probe panel set up by the government.

On October 29, four elephants were found dead in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Umaria district. Later, the death toll increased to ten.

Krishnamoorthy told PTI that the toxicity report of the viscera samples was received from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly, on Tuesday.

It did not find traces of nitrate-nitrite, heavy metals as well as organophosphate, organochlorine, pyrethroid and carbamate group of pesticides, he said.

Cyclopiazonic acid, however, was found in the elephants though the exact level of toxicity was being ascertained, Krishnamoorthy said.

"There is clarity now that there was no insecticide or pesticide. The report clearly suggested there was no poisoning as alleged. The toxicity came from the large quantity of Kodo consumption," he told PTI.

He, however, added that "clarity on all the causes of death can come only after receiving reports from other institutions." The IVRI has also issued an advisory in its report, including the advice not to allow cattle grazing on land with a spoilt crop.

Earlier, the main Opposition Congress had alleged that the elephants were poisoned. PTI ADU MAS KRK