Rampaging Wild Elephants crush four to death
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Rampaging Wild Elephants crush four to death
*Elephants: We are mad as hell and not going to just take it any more*
*
From correspondents in Guwahati, India
December 08, 2006 03:34pm
Article from: Agence France-Presse
FOUR people were trampled to death by wild elephants in India's
northeastern state of Assam.
A dozen elephants rushed a group of woodcutters yesterday who entered a
dense jungle elephant habitation area in eastern Assam, about 145km from
the main city of Guwahati.
"The herd chased the woodcutters and literally tore apart two of them,''
in the Salna reserved forest, wildlife official A. Das said.
Two other people were killed the same day by elephants in Bihali village
in northern Assam.
"The herd entered the village and smashed several huts before trampling
to death two persons,'' the official said.
Forest rangers chased the herd away using firecrackers.
In the past fortnight, wild elephants have wrought havoc in several
parts of Assam, often attracted by the aroma of rice beer being brewed
in tribal villages.
Experts say wild elephants have been moving out of the shrinking jungles
in search of food and people are encroaching upon traditional animal
corridors.
According to official figures for the past five years in Assam,
elephants have killed 248 people while 268 elephants have died, many of
them the victim of retaliation by humans.
Assam has India's largest population of Asiatic elephants, estimated at
5300, according to a 2002 wildlife census.