Illustrative photo, dated 2017
Searches are underway in India for an elephant that has killed 20 people since the beginning of this month and is spreading panic in the east of the country. Mining activities have increased conflicts between humans and pachyderms.
The Indian ranger launched a pursuit of a elephant errant and uncontrolled, presumably in heat, which since the beginning of January caused at least twenty deaths and fifteen injuries.
This lone elephant sowed terror in the rural district of West Singhbhum, causing the deaths of twenty people in the forests of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand over nine days, since the beginning of January.
“We are trying to locate and rescue this wild and violent elephant that killed so many people,” he told the French news agency AFP Aditya Narayanresponsible for the government’s forestry services, confirming the death toll of twenty.
There is children and elderly among the fatal victims. The animal has not been seen since last Friday, despite numerous patrols in the area.
Search teams, supported by drones, are now scouring dense forests, including a national reserve in the neighboring state of Odisha.
Terrified, the inhabitants of more than 20 villages abandoned their lands or barricaded themselves in their homes overnight, a village chief told AFP, Pratap Chachar.
Police or forest guards visit villagers at night to provide them with essential help, he added.
Conflicts between humans and elephants have increased. Why?
The wild elephants that pose the greatest danger to humans are often solitary ones in heat, uncontrolled during the period of sexual activity, when their testosterone level is at its peak.
A former forestry official indicated that the elephant was probably in heat and that Now maybe he would have calmed down and returned to his group.
With the reduction of wild elephant habitat due to the rapid expansion of inhabited areas and the degradation of the forest environment, caused by mining activities, conflicts between humans and pachyderms have increased.
According to official data, 629 people were killed by elephants in India between 2023 and 2024.
A study published in 2025 by the Indian government counted a total of 22,446 wild elephants in Indian territory, compared to the 29,964 recorded in 2017, a drop of 25%.
