Wildlife officials say something must be done to end animal’s months-long rampage that has left villagers living in fear

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

An elephant that has killed 15 people in eastern India over a months-long rampage could be shot within days if it is not brought under control, an official has said.

Wildlife rangers and hunters assembled in Jharkhand on Wednesday after another victim was trampled to death on Tuesday evening, said the state’s chief forest and wildlife conservator, LR Singh.

The elephant crushed four victims in Bihar state in March before crossing into neighbouring Jharkhand and killing 11 more.

“Villagers are living in fear, especially the Paharia tribe that lives on the upper hillier regions where the elephant roams. Something must be done,” Singh said, referring to one of the poorest indigenous tribal communities in eastern India.

“We have a team of experts and hunters here with us. We are brainstorming a solution ... one of them is to shoot the animal. But that’s the last resort and we will take a call in a day or two.”

It is likely the marauding elephant wandered from its herd and became lost, straying into villages where the killings took place.

Elephants kill about 60 people every year in forested Jharkhand, Singh said, a fraction of the estimated 1,100 who died nationwide from elephant or tiger attacks in the three years to May.

The environment ministry estimates a person dies every day in India in clashes with these endangered, jungle-dwelling animals – the vast majority crushed by elephants.

Violent encounters between elephants and humans were an increasing trend, said Singh, as vast swaths of forest are cleared for human settlements or industry.