3 Elephants Electrocuted in North Indian Sanctuary

Three elephants were electrocuted at a wildlife sanctuary in northern India, apparently after they uprooted a utility pole and were caught in its wires, a forest official said Friday.

The charred bodies of the elephants entangled in the wires were found Friday at the Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh state, Vijay Pandey said.

The elephants appeared to be part of a herd moving through the park in the Himalayan foothills, Pandey said.

He said veterinarians will conduct autopsies on the elephants before they are buried in the park.

The park is about 155 miles (250 kilometers) southeast of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.

India's wild elephant population is estimated at about 26,000.

Although the threat to elephants in India is not as dramatic as that facing tigers, the steady decline of their population worries wildlife activists.