By Mizan RahmanAttacks by wild elephants have increased in several villages of southeastern hill district of Rangamati, sources said. Wild elephants in groups are attacking villages destroying houses, trees and crops in their wake.Recently, a group of wild elephants entered Chaillatoli village at night and wreaked havoc in the village.The wild elephants killed two people and destroyed 11 houses.After a gap of several days, wild elephants again attacked villages yesterday and destroyed 38 houses and damaged crops sprawled over 10 acres of land.People are leaving their houses to protect themselves from the attack of wild elephants, a source said. Wild elephants in Bangladesh are limited to areas generally inaccessible to humans such as the isolated Chittagong Hill tracts or Himchari National Park and Mainimukh and Pablakhali Wildlife Sanctuaries.Experts said that the biggest threats to the wild elephants are habitat loss and fragmentation as human population has exploded over the past 30 years and the competition for land has intensified since approximately 30% of the country is flooded during monsoon season.Moreover there is an acute shortage of fodder during the dry season when natural food sources become more difficult to find. Elephant fodder represents only 14% of the total local plant species, the experts pointed out.A 2001-2003 study found that there were 15 important elephant corridors involving the native elephants and migratory populations from India and Myanmar.All these factors have had a serious effect on human elephant relations. In 2001-02 elephants destroyed crops and properties worth $500,000. They also killed 39 people and injured 157 others. Seven elephants were killed over the same period.