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Elephant With Its Trunk Grabbed By Crocodile
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Devi (little princess), a 30-year-old Asian elephant raised in captivity at the San Diego Zoo exhibiting "rocking behavior" (animation), a rhythmic and repetitive swaying which is unreported in free ranging wild elephants. Thought to be symptomatic of stress disorders, and probably made worse by a barren environment, rocking behavior may be a precursor to aggressive behavior in captive elephants.
Despite its popularity in zoos, and portrayal as gentle giants in fiction, elephants are among the world's most dangerous animals. They can crush and kill any other land animal, even the rhinoceros. They can experience bouts of rage, and engage in actions that have been interpreted as vindictive. In Africa, groups of young teenage elephants attacked human villages after cullings done in the 1970s and 80s. In India, male elephants attack villages at night, destroying homes and killing people regularly. In the Indian state of Jharkhand, 300 people were killed by elephants between 2000 and 2004, and in Assam, 239 people were reported killed by elephants between 2001 and 2006.
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