The victims, Satya Dehuri, his wife Rashmita Dehuri, and their son Dinabandhu, had been walking to watch a fair from their village, in Namkani Juang Sahi, India, at around 8 p.m. when the elephant appeared.

The husband held the young boy in his arms as the elephant crushed his wife with its trunk, Pragativadi reported. It then turned to the husband and crushed him. The tusker elephant was scared off by the family’s screams and ran away into the forest.

It’s believed the elephant came from the nearby Telkoi forest, the news outlet reported. The animals usually live in forests, but as human populations expand, it’s becoming increasingly common for them to come into contact with people.

Forest officials rushed to the scene and took the injured family to the local hospital. They were seriously injured and so they had to be taken on to a specialist hospital for treatment.

People living in villages around the Telkoi forest are wary of the tusker, and many are scared to leave their homes, the Orissa Post reported. A local forest ranger has advised them all not to leave their homes at night time in order to avoid the elephant.

Human and elephant conflict has been on the rise in India for years, which is mainly a result of habitat loss. As human development projects expand, elephant habitats are becoming smaller, which forces humans and wildlife together. Fragmented habitats can also cause “crop raiding” instances, when elephants stray onto farmlands in search of food and water, ruining growing crops as they do so.

Experts believe climate change is also making life harder for elephants, which subsequently creates more conflict. As the temperature increases, water sources are more likely to dry up, causing elephants to hunt out new resources.

Although elephants are usually gentle creatures, they can become extremely dangerous if they are provoked. The huge animals can weigh up to 8,000 pounds, and their trunks, which have around 40,000 muscles in them, can be used to lift weights of 700 pounds.

This means they are capable of inflicting serious injury. While an elephant won’t usually charge or attack a human unless it feels it’s in danger, male elephants can become aggressive during breeding.

Elephants can also attack in retaliation. Often, villagers will harm elephants that have damaged their crops. This can also provoke the animals.

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