Man-elephant conflict claims 4 pachyderms in 20 days in Assam district

Udalguri DFO Mustafa Ali Ahmed said most of the recent deaths occurred in areas near forests where residents cultivate paddy.

A spate of elephant deaths in Assam’s Udalguri district, part of a crucial corridor along the Bhutan border, has triggered deep concern among forest officials and wildlife experts.

Officials said that the areas for the movement of wild elephants have been shrinking due to increasing encroachments. (Getty Images)

In just 20 days, four wild elephants have died in the district, three electrocuted and one likely poisoned. Over the past 12 months, at least 14 elephants have been killed, 10 of them by electrocution. Officials say the crisis is escalating rapidly in a landscape already strained by encroachment, shrinking habitats and