A wild elephant ran through the city of Siliguri, India, on Feb. 10, damaging motorcycles, shops, and houses along the way.
Emerging from the Baikunthapur forest, the elephant wrecked havoc in Siliguri for seven hours before it was subdued by wildlife authorities, the Indian Express reports.
A crowd gathered to block the elephant’s path, but that only made things worse, and ultimately the elephant damaged over 40 shops and houses as well as some motor vehicles.
“People flocked in thousands and tried to create a barricade. It could have been easily driven out otherwise through the Ektiasal area,” Animesh Bose, programme coordinator of Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation, told the Indian Express.
Eventually, wildlife officials were able to hit the elephant with a tranquilizer dart, and it was lifted into a truck with two cranes.
The elephant will be examined by veterinarians before it’s released to a wildlife sanctuary.
Jonathan Zhou
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Jonathan Zhou is a tech reporter who has written about drones, artificial intelligence, and space exploration.