Odd News

Bangladesh elephant dies in fight

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-03-22 15:23

A century-old elephant died after a rare fight with another elephant in a Bangladesh forest, officials said on Thursday.

Forest officials retrieved the dead elephant, a male around 100 years old, and conducted an autopsy which suggested it died of injuries inflicted in a clash with another male.

"The two tusks, each weighing 15 kg, were chopped off from the dead elephant and will be preserved, but the body has been buried," said Avoni Kumar Tagore, a forest official at Cox's Bazar, 400 km (250 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka.

The other elephant was likely to be injured, and officials were trying to locate it.

Elephants are mainly peaceful animals and seldom fight within the herd, unless they run out of food or are attacked by others.

"We think this clash between the two was mainly for food, because the forest from where the body was recovered had no soft plants or trees liked by the elephants," Tagore said.

Human settlements have encroached on more and more Bangladeshi forest land. At least 15 people are killed by elephants in Bangladesh each year as forests shrink due to the rising population, forest officials say.