Tuesday 13/January/2026 – 10:20 AM
Indian authorities continue to search for an elephant after it caused the death of more than 20 people during a wave of violence that lasted for several days in the eastern state of Jharkhand, prompting the authorities to declare a state of high alert in the region.
An escaped elephant causes panic in India
Since the beginning of January, 22 people have been killed by this elephant, which was sweeping through forests and villages in the West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, according to forestry officials, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.
The attacks occurred mostly at night, when the elephant would enter small villages, and the first victim was a 35-year-old man who was killed in the village of Bandigari on January 1. Since then, the victims have included a couple and their two young children, in addition to a forest department employee, all of whom were trampled to death or suffered fatal injuries.
A high alert was declared in the area, with residents in the Chaibasa area, where the elephant was last seen, warned against approaching forested areas or going out at night.
Aditya Narayan, a forest officer in Chaibasa district, said authorities believed the elephant was a young male who had become separated from his herd and had become extremely violent.
He added that three attempts to sedate the elephant have failed so far.
Narayan explained, in statements to local media, that forest teams are on high alert, and that attempts to anesthetize the elephant will resume, stressing that strict instructions have been given to village residents not to enter the forests and the need to be careful.
Officials indicated that the elephant travels a distance of approximately 30 kilometers per day, and more than 100 members of the Forest Department have been assigned to participate in the search to track it, without success so far.
Wildlife experts from three other states were also hired to help locate the elephant, but officials said that the animal’s erratic behavior and irregular path through the forests made it difficult to monitor its movements.
These incidents come at a time when conflict between humans and elephants is on the rise in India, due to increasing deforestation, food and water shortages, and the expansion of residential activities in areas that were previously natural corridors for elephant migration.
It is estimated that about 10% of the areas that were considered safe corridors for elephant migration no longer exist. Large numbers of elephants also die as a result of incidents such as electrocution, train collisions, and retaliatory poisonings.
During the past five years, more than 2,800 people have died in India as a result of fatal encounters with elephants.
In states such as Andhra Pradesh, early warning systems based on artificial intelligence have been introduced in some villages to monitor the entry of elephants and alert and protect residents.
