Wild rhino, elephants kill two in Assam (India) 

The Hindu

January 24, 2009

Golaghat, Assam (PTI): Two persons were killed in twin attacks by herbivores straying out of the Kaziranga National Park in Assam on Saturday.

A woman was pinned to the ground by a rhino which came out of Panpur forest, the Park's new extension area, official sources said.

The Asiatic one-horned rhino hit 55-year-old Sumitra Sahani, a resident of nearby Hokam Gopsar near the forest area under Temuguri police station, killing her on the spot.

In another incident, 55-year-old tea garden labourer Haren Tanti was trampled to death by four elephants which strayed out of the national park near the Numaligarh tea estate at Bokakhat, the sources said.

The villagers later managed to scare away the wild animals.

Explaining the reason behind the straying out of rhinos, forest officials said the animals were fond of sugarcane juice and local rice beer `laopani'. They come out to consume the brew in the nearby riverine areas where the villagers grow sugarcane and brew the alcoholic beverage.

With Saturday's deaths, the number of people killed in wild animal attack rose to five in Golaghat district this year.