Elephant Smashes House, then Saves a Crying Baby

An angry elephant smashed a house in an Indian village on Monday night, but when it (17) ___________, the animal turned back and carefully removed the parts of the ruined wall from the infant’s body. Dipak Mahato and his wife, Lalita, were eating dinner when they (18) ___________ coming from the bedroom.

“We ran over and were (19) ___________ and an elephant standing over our baby,” Dipak told The Times of India. “She was crying and there were huge chunks of the wall (20) ___________.”

The elephant, which forest officials say, has killed three people this year, pulled the pieces of bricks from the 10-month-old and then headed back into the forest.

The couple took their daughter to the hospital where she was (21) ___________ but otherwise found to be in good health.

Conflict has (22) ___________ in recent years because villages have expanded into land that’s part of the elephants’ migration routes. Herds of elephants routinely attack farms and destroy houses, but rarely attack people. “Unless people attack an elephant, these gentle giants do not harm human beings. They only come down here in search of food,” said forestry official Purulia Prokash.