Several trains in West Bengal state's Dooars Forest had to be postponed and a team of vets rushed to treat the injured animal, forest warden Vinod Kumar Yadav told AFP.

"Train services linking the forested northern districts in the Dooars bordering Nepal and Bhutan remained suspended as over a dozen wild elephants sat on the railway lines surrounding the injured male elephant which was writhing in pain on the track," he said.

Every year, around eight to ten elephants are hit by trains passing through the Dooars Forest, World Wildife Fund officials say.

TERRA.WIRE