(Shahjahanpur): The death of Batallic, a young male elephant, in Dudhwa National Park has forced the forest authorities to make certain changes in their way of elephant conservation.Sources say that all the field directors, divisional forest officers and range officers in UP have been directed by chief wildlife warden that they need to keep a tab on all elephants in their area, and ensure availability of required medicines every time.They have been advised to carry mock drills with mahouts, veterinarian and officers for the better understanding of complexities that could occur in treatment of elephants.District forest officer Anil Patel said, “We have been advised to follow certain guidelines to ensure the safety of elephants. We will also be conducting regular health checkups for all the elephants in the reserve. Also, a separate built-in enclosure is being prepared to isolate male elephants during their musth period. We have advised all the mahouts to keep a track of the musth cycle of all the male elephants in future.”Currently, there are 22 elephants remaining in Dudhwa, including four males.Batallic died when the experts tried to tranquilize it as it was getting out of control in the stage of ‘musth’ (stimulated to mate). Wildlife enthusiasts have alleged that the treatment provided by experts was not appropriate, and it died due to drug over dose.Sources revealed that Dudhwa administration was ready to handle Batallic, which was displaying highly aggressive behavior. Though his foot was tied strongly, the elephant was becoming uncontrollable, and the help of veterinary experts from WTI was sought.Within limited time, two veterinarians arrived in the park and sedated the elephant, following instructions from Dudhwa officials.

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