Terrified villagers have been forced to sleep on rooftops or abandon their makeshift homes over fears a rampaging elephant which has killed 22 people will return. The young male, which has one tusk, is still at large in the West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, around 730 miles east of the Indian capital Delhi. The elephant – thought to be in a mating phase known as musth, a period of increased sexual libido and aggression which can last for up to 20 days – started its killing spree on January 1.
But unluckily for these Indians, there's no longer any capable Scottish Indian ex-Army officer able and willing to sort it out. These are more enlightened times.
Indian authorities have deployed at least 80 forest officers to find the elephant and tranquilise it.
And then what? Relocate it? A huge undertaking in a Third World country with the typical transport problems they always have.
The rampage comes as deadly human-elephant conflict is on the rise in India, attributed to rising deforestation, food and water scarcity and increased residential encroachment in areas that were once elephant corridors.
The price of human population explosion is always thus.
2 comments:
If the organisers for the small boat invaders can find a big enough dinghy, we'll probably see it being brought into Dover by RNLI or Border Farce.
Penseivat
Singbhum eh? Must have been named by someone who works for IKEA. The population growth in India is such that they'll need a lot more villages. Here are some suggested names:
Chantarse
Trillanus
Quaverrectum
Humbutt
Post a Comment