A wild buffalo that killed two persons has been shot dead in Biswanath district of Assam on Friday.
The adult buffalo, which strayed from the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, was killed at Kumoliya by forest personnel during an attempt to tranquilize it.
On Thursday, an irate mob had torched a forest range office and an official vehicle after a person named Jayanta Das was killed by the buffalo. The animal attacked and killed another person named Sukur Ali on Friday morning.
“Forest personnel were trying to tranquilize the buffalo or push it back into the park when it attacked them. They had to fire in self-defence which resulted in the death of the animal,” Mukut Chandra Das, divisional forest officer, Biswanath Wildlife Division, said.
According to him, the buffalo could have strayed out of the park on Wednesday when locals in large numbers gathered in the KNPTR water bodies for community fishing ahead of the annual Magh Bihu festivities.
“Loud noise from the crowd busy community fishing could have scared the buffalo and prompted it to move out of its habitat. There could be other buffaloes as well that may have moved out of KNPTR,” said Das.
Though human deaths due to attacks from wild elephants are common and there are reports of human deaths due to attacks by rhinos as well, a death due to attacks by wild buffaloes is rare in Assam.
{{/usCountry}}Though human deaths due to attacks from wild elephants are common and there are reports of human deaths due to attacks by rhinos as well, a death due to attacks by wild buffaloes is rare in Assam.
{{/usCountry}}“An angry mob torched some sheds that we had constructed at our forest range office after the death of Jayanta Das and also burnt a forest department vehicle. They snatched a mobile phone and ₹20,000 from a forest employee. They are demanding compensation of ₹50 lakh for the deaths,” said Das.