In Nepal, a wild elephant responsible for killing four people in three months is on the loose, triggering a desperate hunt by soldiers there.
Reuters reports that the elephant strayed into villages in the southern part of the Himalayan nation. In one instance, the animal pulled an elderly couple from their bed and trampled them to death.
Park officials then say the same beast killed two other villagers fewer than three months ago.
An assistant district administrator from the city of Bharatpur told Reuters that his office has given orders to the army to shoot the elephant that “has gone mad”.
The news agency reports that Nepal has about 300 elephants. This includes more than 100 domesticated ones which are used by the tourism industry to take foreigners on jungle rides to watch wild animals.
Elephants are protected by law and anyone convicted of killing one faces up to 15 years in jail in Nepal. But Gelal told Reuters that the Local Administration Act, a Nepali law, allowed authorities to kill the animal if it was responsible for the loss of human life.
