Elephant death caused by African Bot Fly

How many of us will ever believe that a fly can kill an elephant? But that is exactly what happened when a recent incident aroused the attention of senior forest department officials in the state as elephant was found to have died after its body became a breeding ground of flies. A post-mortem report of the animal revealed that a rare species of fly which is mostly found in Africa entered into the body of the deceased animal and turned its oesophagus as a breeding ground. The body of the animal itself had become the amplifier. The big animal had to embrace death as its oesophagus was constantly bleeding for nearly a month.

The incident has given anxious hours to the senior forest department officials. They said that the fly that had killed the animal is known as ‘Bot fly’ a species which is not found in India. In Africa, many animals are killed by this deadly species of fly every year, said the forest department officials. In West Bengal or in North Bengal there was no such incident earlier and this now becomes a major cause of concern for the forest department. If the ‘Bot fly’ continues to enter the bodies of wild tuskers or other animals in the jungles of North Bengal, their existence might be in danger. The doctors who performed post mortem of the animal said that the fly had entered into the elephant’s body through its oesophagus. Fly larva later spread to all over its body. The oesophagus of the animal was bleeding for over 20 days and had led to the death of the animal.