Jan. 13 (UPI) — Indian officials are hunting a wild elephant with a single tusk that they said killed at least 20 people this month in one of Asia’s biggest Sal forests.
The deaths happened in the Kolhan and Chaibasa forest areas in the West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, which is about 750 miles from Hyderabad in northeastern India, according to the BBC.
The deadly attacks mostly have occurred at night when the suspected elephant entered small villages and trampled victims, The Guardian reported.
A 35-year-old man in Bandijhari village was the first to die after the elephant trampled him to death on Jan. 1, and subsequent victims have included a family of four with two young children. A forest department official also is among those who have been killed.
The elephant last was sighted in the Chaibasa district, and locals have been warned to avoid forest areas and stay indoors at night.
A forest officer for the Chaibasa district, Aditya Narayan, said the elephant likely is a young male that became very violent after it was separated from its herd.
Efforts to tranquilize the pachyderm so far have failed after three attempts, Narayan told media.
“Our team is on high alert, and our efforts to tranquilize it will be resumed,” Narayan said. “Villages have been strictly advised not to go into the forest and to remain vigilant.”
The forested areas in which the attacks have occurred are part of one of the largest Sal forests in Asia, and more than 100 forest personnel are participating in the search for the rampaging elephant.
Other elephant rampages that caused multiple deaths have occurred, but the current situation is “unprecedented,” forest officer Kuldeep Meena told media.
“It’s the first time such a pattern of fatalities has been linked to a single male elephant in the region,” Meena explained.
Forest officials are trying to find, capture and return the elephant to the wild, and victims’ families will be offered financial compensation.
The elephant covers up to 20 miles per night in the thick forest, which makes it harder to track its movement, and teams are using drums to alert residents of the potential danger.