Mother, baby elephant run for lives after mob sets them on fire

A shocking picture showing two elephants running for their lives after being set on fire has won a wildlife photography competition.

The photo was taken by Biplab Hazra in the Bankura district of West Bengal, India where unfortunately there is conflict between locals and elephants.

The picture won the contest run by Sanctuary wildlife magazine, which said when announcing the award that "this sort of humiliation... is routine".

Hazra said the calf screamed in "confusion" as it fled the 'crowd of jeering men" who were flinging "flaming tar balls and crackers" at the two elephants.

"For these smart, gentle, social animals who have roamed the subcontinent for centuries, hell is now and here," he said.

What eventually happened to the two elephants in the award-winning picture is unclear.

According to Mainak Mazumder, who lives in Bankura, villagers were responsible for "heavy habitat destruction" and that "elephants have been subjected to terrible abuses and tortures".

Elephants, though, have also have "wreaked havoc" by destroying crops, damaging farmland, and have "killed innocent people".

 

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