Rogue elephant kills 20 people in ten days in brutal rampage

A rogue elephant has killed at least 20 people, including four children, in a terrifying ten-day rampage.

Villagers in India have abandoned their homes or been forced to sleep on their roofs as the young male elephant stalks the West Singhbhum district in Jharkhand, about 1200km east of New Delhi.

It is believed the lone bull elephant, who has a single tusk, is experiencing musth – a state where male elephants experience an extreme testosterone surge that causes intense aggression, restlessness, and heightened sexual drive which can last about 20 days.

A hunt is underway to track down the elephant before he can cause more harm, with scores of officers aided by drones patrolling the area to find and tranquillise him.

Officials say the elephant is agile and constantly on the move making it difficult to track.

“We are trying to trace and rescue this violent wild elephant that killed so many people,” Aditya Narayan, a divisional forest officer for the Chaibasa district told AFP.

He said the animal attacked indiscriminately.

“Anyone who came in front of it was trampled.”

“In one family alone four people were killed. It is unprecedented.

“We have seen elephants in musth in the past, but they’d rarely harm people.”

At least 20 people were killed between January 1 and January 10.

The elderly and children, including an eight-month-old, are among the dead. An elephant handler, known as a mahout, is also dead.

Most killings occurred during the night when villagers were guarding fields and barns.

The elephant has not been seen since January 10 with fear driving residents of more than 20 villages to abandon their farms or barricade themselves indoors at night, elected village head Pratap Chachar told AFP.

“A police team, or forest official vehicle, visits in the night to provide essential help to villagers,” Mr Chachar said.

Traditional drum alerts are being used to warn villagers when the elephant is near and people have been warned not to go outdoors or sleep outside after dark.

Locals have blamed the state government for indiscriminate felling of trees and mining for rising elephant attacks on villagers and damage to properties and harvests, The Times of India reports.

“The marauding tusker’s violent attacks is an unprecedented thing to happen in our district in recent memory but otherwise we are experiencing elephant herd attacks on our houses, fields and on our people on a regular basis.”