ELEPHANT GORES MAN TO DEATH IN INDIA

WILD ELEPHANTS KILL MAN  
INJURED OTHER PEOPLE IN INDIA

http://www.nydailynews.com - A man dies and several others injured as two wild elephants go on five-hour rampage through Mysore in southern India.  On of them gored a man to death after farmers chased it from a field outside the city.  Residents scattered as the young male charged through the city streets attacking vehicles on Wednesday.  The elephant later charged towards people who took cover on top of a staircase, and lunged at a car on a main street.  It turned on the victim in a doorway in an alleyway and gored him as residents looked on.  New Delhi Television news channel aired footage Wednesday showing the body of a man at the feet of one of the animals in the city of Mysore in Karnataka state.   Separate video footage also showed the animals roaming a local women’s college, chasing a bus, crushing parked motorcycles and attacking a cow.

The elephant was one of four that had earlier entered fields on the outskirts of Mysore after becoming separated from their herd, Press Trust of India news agency reported. Farmers chased the animals, sending two of them back into nearby forests. One pachyderm was later trapped at a farm, while the remaining elephant entered the city and was tranquillised.  Several people were injured during the five hours it took to tranquilise the animal, officials said.  Hundreds of people die in India annually when wild animals wander into cities as their habitats shrink and they have to range farther for food.  India’s parks face massive encroachment from people who live and forage in the forests or graze cattle there.

Two hulking elephants rampaged through a southern India city Wednesday, killing at least one man and causing widespread panic.  Video footage showed one of the elephants repeatedly goring and kicking a man’s lifeless body during a gruesome attack in a narrow alley, as horrified residents looked on.  After three hours, forest rangers from the Mysore zoo managed to capture both beasts using tranquilizer guns.  One official blamed the rampage on the push of human settlements into forested areas where elephants live.  Destroy the natural habitat brings unwanted reactions which could have been avoided. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?   

Banwari explains how originally the land is covered with trees, but as the human population increases trees are cleared to make way for cultivation.  However, Vedic culture required that another kind of forest be established in its place. To remove the forest was simply not acceptable. It was the source of natural wealth such as fodder, timber, roots and herbs. Moreover the trees guaranteed the fertility of the soil and purified the air and water. Therefore the villages would each preserve sections of forest for their own specific needs. These forests were different from the Mahavana, the wild forest or jungle, because they were open for exploitation and harvesting according to strictly ecological practices. This kind of forest was called Shrivan, which literally means forest of wealth - they were the basis of the community’s prosperity.

Ranchor Prime (Śripad Ranchor Dasa) :
“Hinduism & Ecology” Chapter Two: “The World Forest”
Friends of Vrindavan (FOV) - WWF
http://www.fov.org.uk/hinduism/hinduism.html