Guwahati, India -- Nearly 100 wild elephants rampaged on a river island in India's northeast Assam province on Saturday, demolishing homes, feasting on sugarcane and panicking residents, officials said.

"The herd is wandering just about anywhere in Majuli. A forest guard was injured and about 50 houses have been pulled down, forcing residents to take shelter in a makeshift relief camp that we have set up," LS Changsan, Jorhat district magistrate told the media.

Majuli, some 350 kilometers east of Assam state's capital, Guwahati, is an 850 sq kilometer island on the Brahmaputra, inhabited by an estimated 160,000 people, mostly indigenous tribal people.

Villagers were in a panic, trying hard to ward off the jumbo creatures using firecrackers and kerosene torches. A team of forest officials was sent to the island to tackle the problem, according to reports.

The magistrate also said forestry workers and officials were trying to assist the villagers in pushing the elephants away from the settlements. "The job is proving difficult."

India has Asia's largest elephant population, with 10,000 to 15,000 of the animals, but their numbers are declining due to habitat loss and poaching.

Assam state alone accounts for nearly 5,000 wild elephants. More than 600 people have been killed in attacks by wild elephants in Assam during the past 16 years. Loss of habitat is cited as the prime reason for elephants straying out of the jungles into human settlements.

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