Wild elephants injure one, elephant calf killed by train

The herd of wild elephants had come down from the proposed Kondoli reserve forest to Potani village in Nagaon district in search of food and attacked a person, injuring him seriously.

The herd also damaged several houses and destroyed paddy fields.

The injured person was admitted to Nagaon civil hospital where his condition was stated to be critical.

The male elephant calf was killed on the spot after being run down by a train in Assam's Jorhat district, an official statement said.

The male calf, around seven months' old, was hit by New Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express at Bhelaguri around 3.30 am while it was trying to cross the tracks about three km away from Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, the statement said.

This was the fourth such death so far this month. Two pachyderms were killed in a single incident. Assam is witness to increased human-elephant conflict in recent times and 71 elephants have died due to it this year alone. Eighteen elephants died in lightning in Nagaon district. Elephant attacks on the other hand claimed the lives of 61 people.