AFP-An elephant in an Indian zoo trampled to death a 25-year-old suspected drug addict who jumped into its enclosure when the animal's keepers were not looking, reports said.
The female elephant, called Laxmi after the Hindu goddess of wealth, reacted furiously to the intruder and crushed him against a wall on Sunday at the Byculla zoo in southern Mumbai.
The victim, who died in hospital of severe head injuries, has not been identified.
"When I reached the spot, there was blood on Laxmi's trunk and she was fuming," Mubeen Khan, the elephant's keeper, told the Mid-Day newspaper on Monday.
"She had smashed the man's head against the wall. I was shocked, as I have never seen Laxmi's unruly behaviour."
Khan said Laxmi, who is 55 years old and has been in captivity for many years, was normally "docile and good tempered".
A police officer said the victim was one of a number of young men who regularly took drugs on a lawn outside the zoo but close to the elephant enclosure.
New anti-drug icon
The female elephant, called Laxmi after the Hindu goddess of wealth, reacted furiously to the intruder and crushed him against a wall on Sunday at the Byculla zoo in southern Mumbai.
The victim, who died in hospital of severe head injuries, has not been identified.
"When I reached the spot, there was blood on Laxmi's trunk and she was fuming," Mubeen Khan, the elephant's keeper, told the Mid-Day newspaper on Monday.
"She had smashed the man's head against the wall. I was shocked, as I have never seen Laxmi's unruly behaviour."
Khan said Laxmi, who is 55 years old and has been in captivity for many years, was normally "docile and good tempered".
A police officer said the victim was one of a number of young men who regularly took drugs on a lawn outside the zoo but close to the elephant enclosure.
New anti-drug icon
, head-crushed by elephant leg !
