A rogue elephant in southern Nepal stalked members of the same family for 14 years before killing two more of them this month, bringing the animal’s confirmed human death toll to 25, park officials said on Thursday.
The elephant, known locally as Dhurbe, broke into a home in Jagatpur village and killed Ashika Bote, 25, and her 4-year-old son Bharat Bote, according to Chitwan National Park.
The family had fled 14 km across the Rapti River to Jagatpur in 2012 after Dhurbe trampled Shanichara Bote’s parents in Madi.
“We believed that moving across the major rivers would keep us safe,” Shanichara Bote told the Kathmandu Post. “But after all these years, the same elephant found us again, raided our home and took my daughter-in-law and my little grandson. There is nowhere left for us to run.”
“Prior to this tragic incident, Dhurbe had officially claimed 23 human lives,” said Abinash Thapa Magar, a representative for Chitwan National Park. “With these latest two casualties in Jagatpur, the confirmed number of fatalities attributed to this single elephant has now risen to 25.”
Park officials said they monitor Dhurbe with a satellite collar that pings his location every hour. Data placed the elephant at the site of the July 4 attack, Magar said.
After the 2012 killings, 93 soldiers were deployed and shot the elephant twice, but it escaped, according to Vice. Collars were replaced in 2016, 2020 and 2023.
Human-elephant conflict is common around Chitwan National Park, home to about 700 wild elephants, as habitat loss pushes animals closer to villages.
Authorities said they are reviewing additional mitigation measures for high-risk communities.