Eight elephants found dead in India's Assam
Copyright 2001 Reuters
October 17, 2001
GUWAHATI, India - Indian forest guards have found the bodies of eight elephants in the country's northeastern state of Assam and officials said angry villagers were suspected of poisoning them.
Forestry department official R.K. Das told Reuters villagers harassed by raids on their farms by wild elephants looking for food had probably killed the elephants by spraying poison in their water and food sources.
"Eight carcasses of wild elephants have been found at three different locations near Tezpur in the past couple of days. All of them are believed to have died of poisoning," Das said.
Tezpur lies about 180 km (110 miles) north of the state capital, Dispur.
Growing human settlement in their habitats has forced herds of wild elephants out of jungles to trampling paddy fields, destroying houses and granaries, officials said.
Das said there could be more bodies of elephants in the area and forest guards had launched searches.
In the past three months, forest guards have found 22 dead elephants in the same area, including 18 in Nameri national park.
Northeastern India is home to about half of India's elephant population of 30,000.
Experts say government protection of elephants over the last 20 years, including a ban on their capture, had led to an increase in their population in Assam.