Caught On Video, A Wild Elephant Tears Through A Bengal Town

The Press Trust of India news agency quoted forest ranger Sanjoy Dutta as saying the elephant damaged homes by crashing through walls and upending pillars.

The rampaging elephant had made its way from Baikantapur Forest at 6am.

A large number of police and forest officials tried to rein in the elephant from the Baikunthapur forest after it moved near the municipal ward No. 40 of Siliguri town.

Hundreds of onlookers followed the elephant on its seven-hour destructive spree, powerless to prevent any damage and many showing disregard for their own safety by filming the incident up close on their cameras and smartphones.

Residents of Siliguri on Wednesday woke up to find a fully grown wild elephant running madly on the streets and damaging buildings, police said.

(AP Photo). Authorities use a crane to remove a wild elephant that strayed into the town after tranquilizing it at Siliguri in West Bengal state, India, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016.

Meanwhile, forest personnel said tranquiliser shots have been fired at the jumbo but the effects were not visible at the time.

It was then taken to a special park for domesticated pachyderms that is maintained by the forest department. Today, there are about 30,000 elephants across the country, restricted to about 15 percent of their historic habitat.