Group Of Villagers In Assam Heckle Herd Of Elephants, One Crushed To Death By Angry Jumbo

Human-animal conflicts can be deadly and avoiding them are in the best interest of both sides.

In yet another such incident, a man was crushed to death by an elephant in Assam after a group of villagers heckled a herd of elephants that was crossing a road.

The incident was reported from Upper Assam¡¯s Numaligarh on Sunday.

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Video shows herd walking calmly

In a video, purportedly shot by one of the several villagers, the herd, including calves can be seen calmly crossing the National Highway 39.

While the elephants were crossing the road the large number of people gathered on both sides began making loud noises and even honking to detract them.

Some of them even tried to go closer to the herd, which despite the distractions was crossing the road.

But one of them had enough and it turned towards the crowds and chased them.

As the crowd ran for their lives, one of them fell down and was crushed by the angry elephant which immediately went back to the herd, as if nothing had happened.

A human lost his life. I wonder whom to blame. pic.twitter.com/KQVGzRq0Ca

¡ª Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) July 26, 2021

The deceased has been identified as Pascal Munda a plantation worker at the Morongi tea estate.

Rampant man-animal conflict

Earlier this month, a global report released by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) had said that human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is one of the greatest threats to wildlife species.

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¡°The future of coexistence, thus, requires enabling wildlife persistence within human-dominated landscapes while substantially and sustainably reducing risks and costs for people and wildlife. Integrating HWC management with land use planning programs and social and environmental safeguard systems, such as social and environmental impact assessments can decrease negative impacts of development activities,¡± the report said.

Grim numbers

"In India, data from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change indicates that over 500 elephants were killed between 2014-2015 and 2018-2019, most related to human-elephant conflict. During the same period, 2,361 people were killed as a result of conflict with elephants," the report said.

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According to it, India faces an increasing challenge of human wildlife conflict, which is driven by development pressures. "With the world's second-largest human population along with the largest wild populations of tigers, Asian elephants, One-horned rhinos, Asiatic lions, and other globally threatened species, India faces urgent problems of human wildlife conflict that must be addressed to achieve a socially just form of conservation. India's elephants probably embody the problem the best," it said.

Elephants in India are restricted to just three- four per cent of their original habitat, with their remaining range plagued by deforestation, invasive species, and climate change. This is pushing elephants to seek resources outside of forests and protected areas, the report said.

"As a result, marginalised people face the brunt of elephants' increasing reliance on crops. As many as 500 people are killed by elephants, and thousands of families face crop and property loss to elephants annually," it said.