A rinderpest outbreak devastated the gaur population of Mudumalai in 1968

By the summer that year, the viral disease affected the wildlife of Mudumalai, home to large populations of gaurs, elephants, and other species. The disease was particularly devastating to the wild herbivores. The outbreak quickly worsened from isolated cases to an epidemic that killed over 100 buffaloes and at least 40 gaurs by mid-August