A female elephant, according to forest department sources, killed Birabar Parida(50) after she turned furious over the death of her three-year-old baby last night near the village. The baby elephant was killed by another tusker.

The shocked mother elephant stayed with the body of the baby elephant and refused to go away even in the morning. When the villagers tried to chase her away, she strayed into the village and found Birabar in her way and killed him instantly.

Enraged over the incident, more than 200 people, who staged the blockade between Cuttack-Sambalpur, demanded adequate protection against the attack from a herd of elephants.

“We are at the receiving end as a herd of wild elephants has created havoc in our village for some time. They killed a villager last week and now took one more life. There is no safeguard to our village people on behalf of forest department who are callous to our woes. We live in constant fear and threat from wild animals. We demand full proof security against the menace,” said a villager.

The blockade continued from 11 am to 1 pm till the senior forest department authorities reached the spot and assured to take all steps to safeguard the village from recurrent attacks from the elephants roaming in that area for some time, according to Inspector-in-Charge of Sadar police station P. K. Jena.

Divisional forest officer of Dhenkanal P.K. Sahu who rushed to the spot where the baby elephant died said all steps are being taken to provide security to the people and drive away the elephants from the area.

The calf apparently died in the attack by a tusker in the herd last night after which the mother elephant became hostile, Sahu added.

Man found dead near New Mexico reservation may have been attacked by dog pack

Joseph J. Kolb
news.yahoo.com

A Native American man found dead in a New Mexico field last week near the Navajo Nation reservation may have been mauled by a pack of as many as 10 dogs, police said on Monday.

Gallup Police Department spokesman Rick White said the man, who did not have identification on him but appeared to be in his mid-40s, was found by a passer-by.

“We do not have a definitive cause of death yet but it appears he was attacked by dogs,” White said, although he could not give a precise cause of death. “There definitely were defense wounds from dog bites.”

White said the man may have fought off the dogs then succumbed to the single digit temperatures in Gallup on Thursday night before his body was found on Friday. The body was taken to Albuquerque for an autopsy.

Police said animal control officials had received complaints about a pack of 10 dogs prior to the fatal incident and were trying to catch them with traps.

The death is not the first such fatal mauling in the Gallup area and comes after an elderly man walking in a westside community was mauled by a pack of dogs four years ago.

Similarly in November, a woman on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming died from hypothermia and blood loss tied to severe injuries inflicted by “multiple dogs,” Fremont County Chief Deputy Coroner Mark Stratmoen said in a statement at the time.

Source: Reuters

Eight people injured by wild boar in India