Lightning kills herd of 18 elephants in Assam

The incident happened in Kandali Proposed Reserve Forest

May 13, 2021 07:13 pm | Updated 08:58 pm IST - GUWAHATI

Elephants died after being struck by lightening near Bamuni Hills in Kandali, Nagaon district, in Assam on Wednesday night.

Elephants died after being struck by lightening near Bamuni Hills in Kandali, Nagaon district, in Assam on Wednesday night.

A bolt of lightning is believed to have killed a herd of at least 18 elephants in central Assam’s Nagaon district on Wednesday night.

The incident happened in the hilly Kandali Proposed Reserve Forest in the Forest Department’s Kathiatoli Range, officials said.

“The local staff said 18 elephants have died and lightning is most likely the cause,” Assam’s Chief Wildlife Warden, M.K. Yadava told The Hindu .

“There have been cases of lightning striking animals down. Lightning claimed five elephants in West Bengal some time ago, but this is huge,” he said.

Officials said a team of veterinary doctors and other wildlife experts have left for Kandali and are expected to reach the spot by Friday morning.

The team is expected to examine if there are other reasons behind the death of the elephants.

The district had cases of man-animal conflicts.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.