Villagers from a small district in Korba, located in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, are currently mourning one of their own after a recent animal attack. Pintawar Singh was trampled to death by elephants while tending his cattle—many have suggested this may have been an act of retaliation from the herd after the village killed one of their young calves.

According to Newsweek, the villagers allegedly killed the calf earlier in the week and buried it in Bania. Officials have speculated that this incident may have arisen after this particular herd of elephants damaged 22 acres of crops in just two days—thereby disturbing the farmers’ plans to make use of the area’s natural resources. 

Of course, many have argued that these crop raids only occur because elephant herds are forced out of their habitats and must seek food and water elsewhere.

Sure enough, human-elephant conflict has been on the rise in India over the past few decades. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has also confirmed that crop raiding is almost always the primary source for conflict. The non-profit organisation stated, “When elephants and humans interact, there is conflict from crop raiding, injuries and deaths to humans caused by elephants, and elephants being killed by humans for reasons other than ivory and habitat degradation.”

The WWF continued: “Elephants cause damage amounting from a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars. Every year, 100 humans (in some years it may be 300 people) and 40-50 elephants are killed during crop raiding in India.”

In this case, the one-year-old’s herd of 44 elephants entered the nearby Devmatti village and trampled Singh to death. Newsweek has further reported that, since the incident, officials uncovered the calf’s body from a farm in Bania, where it had been buried and covered with paddy to hide it. It is unclear if Singh himself was involved in the young elephant’s death.

Duncan McNair, founder and CEO of the Save The Asian Elephants charity, told the publication: “Yet another violent and needless death of a wild Asian elephant in Chhattisgarh state in central India. It’s a terrible area for elephants, killed by man in many ways. Undoubtedly, this was retaliatory action by the herd upon the very person who took the life of one of their young, seeking him out and those around him for retribution.”

This would not be the first time an animal has sought out an individual solely for the purpose of revenge or retribution. In March 2016, a tiger stalked and killed a poacher named Baby—evidently, the mammal had been seeking revenge for the murder of his tigress partner mere months earlier.

In another tragic incident that took place in June 2022 in eastern India, Maya Murmu was at a well drawing water when an elephant appeared out of the blue and trampled her to death. Not long after, as Murmu’s family gathered for her funeral, all of a sudden, the exact same elephant reappeared, lifted the dead woman’s body up into the air and trampled it once more.

So, if you’ve ever considered crossing an elephant, remember—they never forget a face.