Elephants electrocuted in northern Indian state

Three wild elephants were electrocuted after they toppled a high-tension electricity line in northern India, a wildlife official said on Saturday. The three were part of a herd of 15 to 20 elephants walking near Dudhwa National Park, 240 kilometres (150 miles) from state capital Lucknow. "A marching herd of elephants toppled an electric cable pillar," B.K Patnaik, chief wildlife conservator, told AFP. "The elepants brought the live wire down directly into their path," Patnaik said. Three elephants became trapped under the live cable and the others fled, the official said. India is home to around 25,000 Asian elephants but their numbers are falling due to poaching and destruction of their habitat by encroaching human populations. Unregulated expansion of farmland and increasing movement of people and transport vehicles through traditional elephant corridors are prompting the pachyderms to enter villages and towns to search for food.