Elephants have killed three people in the same area of India this month, sparking more concerns over the rise of human-wildlife conflict.
The most recent incident occurred on Tuesday, when a woman, Mehbuba Alam Ahmed, had been taking her usual morning walk near Goalpara in the Indian state of Assam, the Sentinel Assam reported.
The elephant trampled the woman, who was later found dead by officials. Her body was taken to the nearby hospital for examination.
The incident comes just days after an elephant killed two other people in the Subankhata area of the state.
Haren Boro was trampled by the angered elephant and died on impact, the Sentinel Assam reported. Kalpajyoti Das tried to escape the elephant, but it caught up with him. Officials later recovered the victims’ bodies.
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Human and elephant conflict has been a rising issue in India for years. It can be attributed to many reasons, but experts believe it is mainly a result of habitat loss.
As human development and populations expand, elephant habitats are becoming smaller, which forces the animals into closer proximity to humans.
This can also cause “crop raiding incidents.” Fragmented habitats can cause elephants to stray onto farmlands in search of food and water, and as they do so, ruin important crops for local people. This can also lead to retaliation against elephants, which increases conflict.
Elephants are usually gentle creatures, but they can become extremely dangerous if they are provoked. These huge animals can weigh up to 8,000 pounds, and their trunks, which have around 40,000 muscles in them, can be used to lift weights of 700 pounds.
When they are provoked, they are capable of inflicting serious injury. Male elephants in particular can also become aggressive during breeding, making conflicts more common during these times.
“Elephants are immensely intelligent. Their brains weigh 10 pounds or more and have complex surface folds and a highly developed hippocampus, which enables profound emotions of grief, compassion, humor, role-playing and anger. So, while they are a gentle and recessive species, if roused by threats or attacks, they can be deadly,” Duncan McNair, CEO of Save The Asian Elephants, previously told Newsweek.
Climate change may also be contributing to the problem. A change in climate can affect the availability of resources for elephants, meaning they must hunt out new ones.
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