Indian elephants began to gather in "gangs" and kill people

People are hunting elephants from the earliest times: at first they were interested in meat, and then - tusks used to make expensive souvenirs. Huge animals are in danger even now, but for hundreds of years they have managed to work out strategies to protect against hostile people. Thus, a group of scientists led by Professor Nishanta Srinivashai found that the males of Asian elephants became more likely to live in large groups to scare off enemies. This is truly an amazing discovery, because usually the elephants of this species live in mixed families, where the main role is played by adult females.

The discovery was made during the study,which was conducted from February 2016 to December 2017. During this time, Indian scientists took about 1,445 photographs of 250 Asian elephants living in various parts of India. Having studied the collected data, the researchers came to the conclusion that today only 43% of males live in mixed families. The remaining 33% are solitary males, while 23% of male elephants live and protect together. On average, there are about 3 elephants in one group.

Where do elephants live?

Most often groups of males are found in not the mostcomfortable habitat areas. After examining the photos, the researchers noticed that elephants were grouped in areas without forests, where it is extremely difficult to get food, and there is a high probability of meeting people. Since food extraction is difficult for them, individuals from male groups are very different from males from mixed families — they are much larger than them and have more power.

Elephants kill people

Despite the fact that the people of India are activelytame elephants, huge animals still pose a great danger to people. In April 2019, in the Indian state of Orissa, an angry elephant trampled on five people - they died on the spot. According to the portal The Hindu, in 2018 92 people died in this region of India.

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