KATHMANDU, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Soldiers in Nepal are on the
hunt for a wild elephant after it strayed into villages in the
southern part of the Himalayan nation and killed four people in
three months, officials said on Monday.
The elephant walked into a thatched house in Gardi village
adjoining Chitwan National Park, 82 km (50 miles) south of
Kathmandu on Saturday, pulled an elderly couple from bed and
trampled them to death, said Shiva Ram Gelal, assistant district
administrator from Bharatpur, the nearest city.
Park officials say the same beast killed two other villagers
fewer than three months ago.
"We have given orders to the army to shoot the elephant that
has gone mad," Gelal told Reuters. "Soldiers are now searching
for it."
Nepal has about 300 elephants, including more than 100
domesticated ones which are used by hotels and national parks to
take tourists on jungle ride to watch wild animals like
one-horned Asian rhinoceroses and Royal Bengal Tigers.
Elephants are protected by law and anyone convicted for
killing one faces up to 15 years in jail, but Gelal said the
Local Administration Act, a Nepali law, allowed authorities to
kill the animal if it was responsible for the loss of human
life.
(Reporting by Gopal Sharma)