Elephants die after beer binge

2007-10-24 12:10

New Delhi - Six elephants, including three calves, died after raiding an Indian village's rice beer and rampaging through a paddy field where they were electrocuted, officials and residents said on Tuesday.

Enticed by the aroma of rice beer being brewed by local tribal people, a herd of about 40 wild elephants came sniffing around the village of Chandan Nukat, about 250km west of Shillong, the capital of the north-eastern state of Meghalaya.

The elephants gorged on the beer on Sunday night after taking apart casks kept outside by local villagers and ran through a nearby paddy field that had an electrical pole running through it.

Other elephants tried to help

A wildlife activist, Dipu Marak, said: "One of the elephants tried rubbing his back against an electric pole passing through the paddy field.

"The pole was unable to withstand the animal's weight and it caved in, bringing the elephant in direct contact with the live wire."

Witnesses and wildlife officials said other elephants tried to come to the rescue of the adult male as it writhed in pain and trumpeted loudly.

"It was a pathetic sight to see one elephant after another getting electrocuted in front of our eyes", said a village elder.

There would have been more casualties had the crowd, awakened by the cries of the animals, not chased the other elephants away.

Human encroachment on their habitat has led to more and more confrontations between people and pachyderms, including other incidents of elephants drinking liquor, destroying homes and even killing people.

Elephants have killed 239 people in Assam, a state neighbouring Meghalaya, in the past five years while 265 elephants have died during the same period, many of them in retaliation by angry people.

Sapa-dpa

- SAPA