India, Nov. 18 -- A spate of elephant deaths in Assam's Udalguri district, part of a crucial corridor along the Bhutan border, has triggered deep concern among forest officials and wildlife experts.

In just 20 days, four wild elephants have died in the district, three electrocuted and one likely poisoned. Over the past 12 months, at least 14 elephants have been killed, 10 of them by electrocution. Officials say the crisis is escalating rapidly in a landscape already strained by encroachment, shrinking habitats and intensifying human-elephant conflict.

According to Udalguri Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Mustafa Ali Ahmed, most of the recent deaths occurred in areas near forests where residents cultivate paddy. "They use electric wires,...