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Wild Elephant Rampage: 20 Dead in Jharkhand Hunt
13 Jan
Summary
- A lone bull elephant is blamed for killing 20 people in Jharkhand.
- Villagers abandoned farms due to panic and fear during the nine-day rampage.
- Human-elephant conflict is increasing due to shrinking habitats and settlements.
Wildlife officers in Jharkhand, India, are actively searching for a rogue wild elephant implicated in the deaths of at least 20 individuals over a nine-day period in early January. The aggressive bull elephant's rampage has caused significant panic in the rural West Singhbhum district, forcing residents of over 20 villages to flee their homes or barricade themselves indoors.
The search efforts, utilizing drones and extensive patrols, extend into a national reserve in the neighboring Odisha state. The victims include children, the elderly, and a professional elephant handler. This incident underscores the escalating human-elephant conflict in India, exacerbated by the reduction of elephant habitats to just 15 percent of their original range.
Asian elephants, an endangered species, are increasingly coming into contact with human settlements due to development and forest disturbances. In the 2023-2024 period alone, 629 people were killed by elephants across India. Experts suggest the rogue bull may have been in 'musth,' a state of heightened aggression, and could potentially have calmed down and rejoined its herd.
