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‘Laden’ attack forces wildlife officials to hire killer
Elephant named Laden had killed 14 people.
BY A CORRESPONDENT
December 15, 2006
Assam’s wildlife rangers are on the hunt for Laden. We are not talking of al-Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden. Assam’s Laden lives and roams freely in the wild. A giant rogue elephant which killed as many as 14 people during the past one year has been christened Laden and has been ordered to be shot down.
The 10-feet tall male tusk-less elephant had been proclaimed a rogue last in Sonitpur district, 230 km off Guwahati. The administration has now hired a licensed hunter to shoot the rogue elephant down.
According to wildlife authorities in Guwahati, the hunter licensed to kill is roaming the Assam jungles accompanied by another five rangers, in a bid to track down Laden. The deadline given to the hunter is December 31.
Terror attacks by the pachyderm have increased of late and the latest victim was a woman close to a reserved forest area. After killing the woman, Laden managed to get away from the licensed hunter. This is the third time in the past two years that Laden was being declared rogue and ordered to be killed.
Assam has a history of hunting down animal who spread terror among the locals. The last time an elephant declared a rogue and later killed by licensed hunter was in 2004.
Reports from Sonitpur said that during the last 15 days alone, herds of wild elephants have been wreaking havoc in several parts of the state. The attacks have been more in hamlets where tribals brew rice beer.
But are aimals to be blamed, is the question posed by animal lovers and experts. According to them, wild elephants venture out of the jungles in search of food as people have encroached upon animal corridors.
Statistics reveal that pachyderms have killed 248 people in the state in the past five years. As many 268 elephants have died during the same period, many of them victims of retaliation by human beings.
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