Lightning kills five elephants in Bengal

Kolkata, May 04 (UNI) Lightning struck havoc at the Buxa Tiger Reserve in North Bengal, killing five pachyderms.

Official sources here today said the elephants died yesterday.

Tea garden workers found the carcasses near the bank of a river in Alipurduar of Jalpaiguri district.

A Buxa reserve official suspected that the lightning struck when the elephants came to drink river water.

He ruled out the possibility of poisoning or electrocution by poachers.

However, he said the exact cause could be ascertained only after the post-mortem.

Officials of the Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation (HNAF) and Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) said this was a very rare incident.

State Forest Minister Ananta Roy expressed concern over the death of 12 elephants during the past few months and ordered a departmental probe.

UNI