A herd of a dozen elephants rumbled across a highway in eastern India’s Odisha, blocking traffic as well as the commuters.
The incident took place on August 8 along National Highway 200 between Dhenkanal and Parjang.
Footage shows the elephants, including calves, making their way across the highway, as vehicle movement comes to a halt.
According to statistics, 2,044 elephants lived in Odisha’s dense forests in the year 1979, as opposed to a decline to 1,976 in 2017.
Odisha has lost more elephants than most elephant bearing Indians states, with elephant populations in some states twice of Odisha’s.
The Odisha elephant population faces a grave threat as about 20 adult breeding male elephants die each year, mostly due to poaching and electrocution.
