Search for single-tusked elephant after 22 killed in India rampage

"Since the beginning of January, 22 people have been killed by a single-tusked elephant that has been tearing through forests and villages in West Singhbhum district of Jharkand. The attacks have mainly taken place at night as the elephant has entered small villages. The first victim was a 35-year-old man in Bandijhari village on 1 January. Since then, those trampled to death or suffering fatal injuries have included a couple and their two young children and a forest department official."

"The region has been put on high alert and residents living in the Chaibasa district, where the elephant was last spotted, have been warned to stay away from the forest areas and not go out at night. Aditya Narayan, divisional forest officer of Chaibasa district, said they believed a young male elephant had been separated from his herd and become extremely violent."

"Narayan said three attempts had been made to tranquillise the elephant but all had failed so far. Our team is on high alert, and efforts to tranquillise it will be resumed. Villagers have been strictly advised not to go into the forests and to remain vigilant, he told local media. The elephant has been covering almost 30km a day and more than 100 forest department personnel have been assigned to the search operation to track him down but without success."

Since early January a single-tusked, likely young male elephant separated from its herd killed 22 people across West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. Attacks occurred mostly at night as the animal entered small villages, killing victims including a couple with their two young children and a forest department official. Three tranquillisation attempts have failed and the elephant has covered almost 30 km per day, evading more than 100 forest personnel and wildlife specialists from three states. Authorities placed the region on high alert, warned Chaibasa residents to avoid forests and night travel, and continue search and immobilisation efforts amid rising human-elephant conflict driven by deforestation, resource scarcity and encroachment.

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