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Tame elephants get medical checkup in Riau
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A veterinarian takes a blood sample from an elephant at a center in Riau on Wednesday, Jan 31. Riau chapter of Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) conducted a routine medical checkup on 47 tame elephants in Riau along with their handlers as part of a program aimed at preventing the spread of Tuberculosis. (Photo courtesy of/Riau BKSDA)
R
iau chapter of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and elephant conservation group Veterinary Society for Sumatran Wildlife Conservation conducted routine medical checkups on dozens of trained elephants at several locations in the province.
“We have taken the blood samples of 47 elephants, 23 of whom are male and 24 female. This time, the screening is for mycobacterium tuberculosis,” BKSDA spokeswoman Dian Indriati said on Wednesday, adding that the blood samples would be taken to a laboratory in Bogor, West Java.
The screening was aimed at preventing tuberculosis infections that can be transmitted from humans to elephants or vice versa. Tuberculosis is a zoonosis disease that often afflicts elephants, she said.
The elephants are tame and usually used in mitigating conflict among wild elephants and humans in Riau.
Rini Deswita, a veterinarian at the BKSDA said it was not only elephants being screened, but also all officials and elephant handlers, who had their blood checked as part of the effort to prevent the spread of tuberculosis.
The transmission between humans and elephants and vice versa can occur through direct contact or through varied vectors found in polluted food or water, as well as through the air. (din/rin)
