Osama bin Laden was a rogue bull

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

named after the terrorist leader

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

. He was responsible for at least 27 deaths and the destruction of property in the jungled

Sonitpur district Sonitpur district ron: ˌsə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊə or ˌʃə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊəis an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters is located at Tezpur. Etymology The name of the is derived from a mythological story fo ...

of the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. After a two-year rampage from 2004 to 2006, the elephant was eventually shot, though some were doubtful that the correct animal had been killed.

Attacks

Osama bin Laden was a rogue bull

active in the Indian

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, in the vicinity of

Behali Bahali is a village and union councils of Pakistan, union council (an administrative subdivision) of the Mansehra District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.Tezpur Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...

. The state capital,

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

, is southwest of Behali. The province has an estimated population of 5,300 Asiatic elephants. The elephant was mockingly named after the terrorist

. At the time of the attacks, the elephant was thought to be between 45 and 50 years old. He measured between tall. He was given the status of a "rogue" elephant in the summer of 2006 after his death toll reached double-digit figures. The elephant was said not to fear

firecracker A firecracker (cracker, noise maker, banger) is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang, usually for celebration or entertainment; any visual effect is incidental t ...

s or fire. During his attacks, he killed 27 people in the state of Assam, including 14 during the six months preceding his death. In northeastern India, human and elephant conflicts have become problematic. Expansion of human activities and

destruction Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger * Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism * Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kind ...

of elephants' natural habitat has resulted in elephants foraging for food where humans are situated. From 2001 to 2006 in Assam, more than 250 people were killed by elephants; distraught villagers killed 268 elephants, mainly by poisoning.

Death

Indian officials issued a "shoot to kill" directive for Osama bin Laden in mid-December 2006, with a deadline of the end of the month. On 18 December, it was announced that the elephant had been tracked to a

tea plantation Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

near Behali, a town north-west of

. Local villagers used drums and fire to trap the elephant in the corner of the plantation. He was approached by hunter Dipen Phukan; however, once the elephant realised what was about to happen he charged the hunter, who killed him as he rapidly approached. Phukan said, "It was charging towards me and I kept firing. Another few yards and it would have run over me." It had been identified as Osama bin Laden as it had no

tusk Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine teeth, as with pigs and walruses, or, in the case of elephants, elongated incisors. Tusks share c ...

s. However officials were concerned that it was not the right elephant, with the death taking place a considerable distance – – from where he had been seen previously. Forestry officials were accused of killing an innocent elephant, while conservation groups were concerned about the possibility of revenge attacks by other elephants of the same herd.

Other elephants

Post

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, villagers in Assam started calling elephants which damaged their crops or homes Osama bin Laden, viewing them as terrorists. In 2008, another elephant also named "Osama bin Laden" – that caused more than 11 fatalities and dozens of injuries – was shot dead in

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

Notes

References

External links

*{{Cite web , title=5 Terrifying Serial Killers Who Happened to Be Animals , first1=Robert , last1=Evans , first2=Jacopo , last2=della Quercia , date=27 March 2012 , url=http://www.cracked.com/article_19737_5-terrifying-serial-killers-who-happened-to-be-animals.html , accessdate=3 January 2015
Photo of elephant Osama Bin Laden (slain)

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...