Deforestation is leaving elephants with nowhere to go, and this is how they’re punished when they accidentally stumble onto “human territory”:
A mob of Indian villagers brutally attacked a mom and baby elephant when the pair accidentally wandered onto their farmland last week.
The men launched flaming missiles at the elephants to keep them from trampling their crops. 
Incidents like these are becoming increasingly common in India, where rampant deforestation is leaving wild animals nowhere to take refuge.
The images, taken in West Bengal, highlight the plight of endangered species as their habitat becomes smaller and more fragmented, The Independent reports:
“India’s booming human population and mushrooming towns and cities have seen forests shrink into isolated islands, and when animals attempt to move between them, they’re coming into conflict with humans.”
Because they spread seeds in their dung, elephants are key to the survival of rainforests and grasslands in India, The Independent notes.
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