What Happened
- A herd of five elephants attacked Gangpur village in Bokaro district's Mahuatand police station area on February 7, 2026, killing Somar Saw and his three-year-old grandson Aman Saw, and injuring four others including three minors.
- This brought the death toll from elephant attacks in Bokaro to eight since January 2026, with five deaths in the last two days alone.
- The incident comes less than a month after a rampaging elephant killed over 20 people elsewhere in Jharkhand.
- Bokaro DFO Sandeep Shinde attributed the attacks largely to the impact of mining and other activities on the state's elephant corridors.
- A 16-member expert team from Bankura was deployed, along with Quick Response Teams (QRTs) using drone cameras to monitor herd movement; conservation centre Vantara was contacted for tranquilisation and rescue support.
Static Topic Bridges
Human-Elephant Conflict in India
India is home to approximately 27,000-30,000 Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), the largest population of this endangered species globally. Human-elephant conflict (HEC) has intensified across eastern and southern India as expanding human activities fragment elephant habitats and disrupt traditional migration routes.
- Over 2,500 people were killed in human-elephant conflicts across India in the five years ending 2024, according to government data presented in Parliament
- Jharkhand recorded 1,340 fatalities and 400 injuries from 1,740 HEC incidents across 22 Forest Divisions between 2000 and 2023
- Between 2019 and 2024, 474 people were killed in human-elephant conflicts in Jharkhand alone
- Between 2018 and 2025, 100 elephants died unnaturally in Jharkhand, including 30 from electrocution (2019-2024)
- The Asian elephant is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
Connection to this news: The Bokaro attacks are part of an accelerating pattern of HEC in Jharkhand, where over 18 people were killed by elephants in January 2026 alone, driven by habitat loss and disrupted corridors from mining expansion.
Elephant Corridors and Habitat Fragmentation
Elephant corridors are narrow strips of land that connect larger habitat patches, enabling elephant herds to migrate between feeding and breeding areas. India has identified 101 elephant corridors across the country, many of which face severe encroachment from linear infrastructure, mining, and settlements.
- Jharkhand historically served as a natural migratory corridor for elephants between the forests of West Bengal, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh along the Chotanagpur Plateau
- Between 2001 and 2020, Jharkhand lost nearly 8,000 hectares of forest cover, with districts such as West Singhbhum and Giridih experiencing the highest deforestation
- Between 1990 and 2020, expansion of coal and iron ore mining in Dhanbad, Bokaro, and West Singhbhum resulted in major forest degradation threatening elephant habitats
- Traditional migratory routes connecting Jharkhand with Odisha's Simlipal National Park have been significantly disrupted
Connection to this news: The Bokaro DFO directly linked the attacks to disruption of elephant corridors by mining activities, as elephants forced off their traditional routes increasingly enter villages in search of food and passage.
Project Elephant and Conservation Framework
Project Elephant was launched by the Government of India in 1992 as a centrally sponsored scheme under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to protect elephants, their habitats, and corridors. India also has 33 designated Elephant Reserves across 14 states.
- Objectives include protecting elephants and their habitat, addressing human-elephant conflict, and ensuring welfare of captive elephants
- The Elephant Task Force (2010) recommended declaring elephants as National Heritage Animals and strengthening corridor protection
- The Wildlife Protection Amendment Act, 2022, enhanced protections and penalties for wildlife offences
- States implement HEC mitigation through early warning systems, barriers (elephant-proof trenches, solar fencing), compensation, and rapid response teams
Connection to this news: Despite Project Elephant's framework and Jharkhand's deployment of QRTs and drone monitoring, the continuing toll highlights the inadequacy of current mitigation measures in areas where mining has fundamentally altered the landscape and elephant movement patterns.
Key Facts & Data
- Eight people killed in elephant attacks in Bokaro district since January 2026; five in the last two days
- Over 20 people killed by a rampaging elephant elsewhere in Jharkhand in January 2026
- Jharkhand: 1,340 fatalities from human-elephant conflict between 2000 and 2023 (across 22 Forest Divisions)
- India has identified 101 elephant corridors; many face encroachment from mining and infrastructure
- Jharkhand lost approximately 8,000 hectares of forest cover between 2001 and 2020
- India hosts approximately 27,000-30,000 Asian elephants, the world's largest population
- Project Elephant launched in 1992; India has 33 designated Elephant Reserves across 14 states