Chhattisgarh govt to hunt down killer elephant

29 July 2008

RAIPUR: A rogue elephant that has killed eight people and caused widespread damage in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district is to be hunted - with tranquiliser gun - the state government announced after affected villagers started a road blockade.

"We are forced to order that the rogue elephant be hunted as it has killed eight people and caused widespread damage to property in the past one year," O.P. Yadav, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Jashpur, said on Tuesday.

On this assurance, villagers of Jashpur district called off their road blockade started last week. The villagers had laid the body of a man killed by the elephant on the road they blockaded.

"Experts are coming from West Bengal to hunt down the rogue elephant. It will take at least two weeks to tranquilize and capture the animal, but killing it is definitely not on our agenda, and it will be the last option," the official added.

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