The Assam government is planning to register a police case against “unknown persons” after a wild elephant died at a construction pit in yoga guru Ramdev’s herbal and food park being built in the state. The Nameri national park and Sonai Rupai wildlife sanctuary are located close to the plant, nearly 200km northeast of the state capital. Last month, an injured elephant died in Nagaon district after it remained stuck in deep slush for over a week. Efforts are underway to recruit more people on contract to ensure such incidents don’t recur,” the forest minister said. Assam has nearly 6,000 elephants in the wild and incidents of man-elephant conflicts because of shrinking forests are common.

Source: Hindustan Times November 24, 2016 12:37 UTC