A bacterium known to cause "black disease" is most likely to have killed dozens of gaurs in Kui Buri National Park in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, officials say.
Tuangthong Patchimasiri, senior veterinary researcher of the National Institute of Animal Health, said that laboratory tests detected the bacteria Clostridium novyi from samples taken from 15 gaurs, which...
A total 24 gaur carcasses, 14 male, eight female and two calves, were found in the national park between late November and early December last year.
According to the test results, 99.5% of the contents of the gaurs' stomachs was grass and only 0.5% comprised double-leafed plants, going against a previous assumption that the animals had died after eating leaves from maiyalarb yak, or giant sensitive plants.
Other bacterial strains such as Clostridium perfringens were also found in some samples, but they were ruled out as the cause of death.