By Tim Binnall
Officials in India are desperate to locate a murderous wild elephant that is believed to be responsible for killing more than 20 people since the start of the new year. The pugnacious pachyderm reportedly resides in the sizeable forests found in the state of Jharkhand and, beginning around two weeks ago, suddenly began venturing into the nearby villages with a worrisome thirst for blood. "The elephant turns violent after dark," explained conservation official Smita Pankaj, who lamented that "it moves extremely fast and keeps changing locations, repeatedly giving our teams the slip," before vanishing into the vast wilderness during daylight hours.
As the marauding creature's death toll has grown, so too has the panic in communities throughout the region, with many residents refusing to leave their homes at night. "This is an unprecedented situation," forest official Kuldeep Meena explained to the BBC, "it's the first time such a pattern of fatalities has been linked to a single male elephant in the region." Flummoxed by the fast-moving animal, authorities have assembled a team of over 100 people to search for the pachyderm, which may have turned aggressive due to being separated from its herd. Should the elephant be found, it will be tranquilized and moved to a safer location where it will no longer pose a threat to people living in the area.