The Elephant Sanctuary, Hohenwald, Tennessee

Rare Nepal Elephants Suffer From Tuberculosis

Yahoo! News
June 11, 2007

Mother and baby An elephant reaches out to its baby
at Sauraha breeding centre, about
200 km (124 miles) south of Kathmandu.

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Ten of Nepal's 250 endangered elephants are suffering from tuberculosis in a national park and the disease is threatening to spread to humans and other wildlife, authorities said on Monday.

Chitwan National Park in southern Nepal attracts thousands of tourists every year and has numerous rare wildlife, such as rhinoceroses and tigers.

Park authorities said tests had confirmed at least 10 of 100 domesticated Asian elephants in Chitwan had contracted the disease in the past two years.

"Tests have confirmed that the elephants have tested positive for TB and we are trying to provide treatment," Kamal Gaire, a senior veterinary official, said by phone from Chitwan, 80 km (50 miles) south of Kathmandu.

"This is serious because it may spread to human beings."

Park officials said this is the first time that tuberculosis in elephants had been reported in the Himalayan nation.

Nepal has about 150 elephants in the wild and about 100 domesticated pachyderms, some of which are used in safaris by private hotels and state-run national parks.

Elephants are a protected species in Nepal and killing them carries a jail term of up to 15 years.