Seven elephants died and one was injured this Saturday, when a train collided with a herd of these animals in northeast India.
“We are deeply saddened by the death of seven elephants – three adults and four calves – in a tragic train collision today,” said the head of government of the state of Assam, in northeast India. Himanta Biswa Sarmavia your account on X.
“I ordered the Forest Department to conduct a thorough investigation into this worrying accident and to take measures to further secure our wildlife corridors, particularly during seasons of low visibility,” he added.
The railway network Northeast Frontier Railway reported in a statement that the incident occurred on a stretch that was not a designated elephant corridor.
“The driver, observing the herd of elephants, applied emergency brakes; However, the elephants collided with the train,” the document notes.
The railway explained that when the train collided with the herd of elephants, the locomotive and five carriages were derailed, without any casualties or injuries among the passengers.
This confrontation highlights the tension between human infrastructure and wildlife in India.
India, guardian of nearly 60% of the planet’s wild elephants, faces a global challenge to preserve this iconic species in Asia, where it is found in serious declinedue to habitat loss and human expansion.
The country, due to its territorial size and its conservation policies, plays a determining role in the long term survival of the species throughout Asia, being primarily responsible for the conservation of genetic diversity and the migratory corridors that connect these dispersed populations.
According to ancient paintings of God GaneshaElephants embody an ancestral relationship between man and nature, a link that is struggling to survive today in the face of development and change.
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