Government data shows that in the past three years, at least one person has been killed every day in conflict with a tiger or an elephant. The statistics released by the Environment Ministry count a total 1,144 people killed between April 2014 and May 2017. Here are some of the deadliest man vs wildlife encounters in India in the past.
A two or three-year-old male leopard was beaten to death by a mob, armed with sticks, in Mandawar village in Gurgaon’s Sohna area on Thursday morning, after it attacked eight people including an official from the forest department, November 24, 2016. (Express Photo by Manoj Kumar)
A Royal Bengal tiger drags a wild boar after killing it at the Ranthambhore national park in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. June 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma, File)
Wild elephants chase back Indian villagers who were trying to chase them away from their Misamari village on the outskirts of Gauhati, Assam state. Feb. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)
An injured male leopard takes shelter in the bedroom of a residential complex in Gauhati. Jan. 7, 2015 (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)
Onlookers stand on vehicles and watch as a wild male elephant, who got separated from his herd, pulls itself out of muddy pit on the outskirts of Gauhati. Aug. 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)
Villagers watch as a herd of wild elephants walks towards them in Kurkuria village, about 45 kilometers east of Gauhati. Dec. 22, 2012 (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)
Forest officials carry a full-grown common leopard, after tranquilizing it in Gauhati, India. A deadly conflict is underway between India's growing masses and its wildlife, confined to ever-shrinking forests and grasslands, with data showing that around one person has been killed every day for the past three years by roaming tigers or rampaging elephants. Statistics released this week by India's Environment Ministry count a total 1,144 people killed between April 2014 and May of this year. Feb. 3, 2007 (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)