Elephant tramples to death man out on picnic with friends near Dehradun Times of India September 14, 2021 A man out on a picnic with friends on the outskirts of Dehradun was trampled to death by an elephant, as per the claims of forest department. The incident took place in the Saura-Saroli area of Maldevta on Sunday. Identified as one Shahbaaz, the man and his friends reportedly went near a forest where they came across a herd of elephants, according to the forest staff. Seeing the jumbos, they started to flee, but Shahbaaz was attacked by one of the elephants and suffered grievous injuries. He was taken to a health centre where he was declared dead. The incident has raised questions on the lack of patrolling in the forest area despite it being a famous jumbo zone and rising cases of elephants moving around that area. The forest department data indicates that eight persons have lost their lives to human-elephant conflict and five others were left brutally injured in Uttarakhand till July 31. And almost a dozen elephants have also lost their lives in different forms of conflicts arising due to encroachment of their habitats. A few residents of Dehradun have alleged that it is "excessive encroachment of fringe forest areas due to which the elephants are unwillingly getting into a conflict". Incidentally, the mishap occurred close to Balawala forest where the education department had planned to come up with a science research institute by felling at least 25,000 trees. In the same area, the previous year, solar fencing was raised to keep elephants away from venturing out from the forest in search of food. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/elephant-tramples-to-death-man-out-on-picnic-with-friends-near-dehradun/articleshow/86178676.cms