ID :
12292
Sat, 07/12/2008 - 12:34
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http://m.oananews.org//node/12292
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Wild elephants kill family in Bandarban hills
BANDARBAN, Bangladesh, July 11 (BSS)-A herd of wild elephants today trampled to death four members of a family at a remote village in Lama upazila of the hill district prompting over 100 families inthe neighborhood to flee their homes for safety, officials said.
They said the four, including two minor children, were killed while asleep at their thatched house as the herd of some eight elephants stormed into the Tirer Deba village leveling four households and three rural shops.
"More than one hundred families in the neighborhood fled their homes for safe shelters as the elephants killed another person at the same village just a week ago," a police official told BSS.
With the today's incident 18 deaths from elephant attacks in Lama and neighbouring Naikhangchhari and Chokoria were reported in the past two months as the elephants raided villages coming down from the forests in search of food, targeting harvested heaps of paddy and household banana gardens.
Bangladesh has nearly 400 elephants, including 100 migratorypachyderms, and a similar number of captive elephants, forest officials said adding that up to 20 people and eight elephants are killed in human-elephant conflicts every year on an average.
Wildlife experts and officials have long been saying that human populations were fuelling more demand for land and other resources, destroying the elephants' habitat and placing them at a greater risk of direct confrontation with people.
Some 100 elephants migrated to forests in northern Sherpur from India's northeastern state of Meghalaya several years ago, but failed to return because of development of infrastructure like roads by Indian authorities.
Bangladesh have been asking Indian authorities to take back the elephants saying they were causing damage to crops, properties and human life in the region.
They said the four, including two minor children, were killed while asleep at their thatched house as the herd of some eight elephants stormed into the Tirer Deba village leveling four households and three rural shops.
"More than one hundred families in the neighborhood fled their homes for safe shelters as the elephants killed another person at the same village just a week ago," a police official told BSS.
With the today's incident 18 deaths from elephant attacks in Lama and neighbouring Naikhangchhari and Chokoria were reported in the past two months as the elephants raided villages coming down from the forests in search of food, targeting harvested heaps of paddy and household banana gardens.
Bangladesh has nearly 400 elephants, including 100 migratorypachyderms, and a similar number of captive elephants, forest officials said adding that up to 20 people and eight elephants are killed in human-elephant conflicts every year on an average.
Wildlife experts and officials have long been saying that human populations were fuelling more demand for land and other resources, destroying the elephants' habitat and placing them at a greater risk of direct confrontation with people.
Some 100 elephants migrated to forests in northern Sherpur from India's northeastern state of Meghalaya several years ago, but failed to return because of development of infrastructure like roads by Indian authorities.
Bangladesh have been asking Indian authorities to take back the elephants saying they were causing damage to crops, properties and human life in the region.
