18 wild Asiatic elephants found dead in remote protected forest in India

Indian authorities launched a probe Friday into the deaths of at least 18 elephants as a leading conservationist raised doubts that the animals were killed by lightning, the cause cited as likely by government officials.

The dead herd was found in the hilly Kandali Proposed Reserve Forest in the remote northeastern India state of Assam on Thursday. Forest officials and a local lawmaker, Jitu Goswami, told Agence France-Presse they believed the elephants died after lightning struck the forest.