COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, May 17 (Reuters) - A Bangladesh safari park has called for urgent financial help from the government to feed nine elephants after their mahouts were detained for knocking down trees, officials said on Thursday.

Keepers of the 900-hectare (2,250-acre) Dulhazara Safari Park said they lacked the food or money to feed the nine additional guests, which consume large amounts of paddy, rice and banana trees each day.

The mahouts were detained by police last month after they used the pachyderms to illegally fell trees. Charges have been filed against the men and their principal employers.

"I have urged the environment and forest ministry to sanction an additional fund to collect food for the elephants," said B.A. Kalam, officer in charge of the safari park.

Forests cover about 17.5 percent of Bangladesh, one of the world's most densely populated nations, and a rapidly growing human population is placing huge pressures on the country's remaining elephants.

There are about 400 elephants in Bangladesh -- including 300 in the wild -- and at least 15 people are killed by the giants in the country each year as their forest habitats shrink because of human encroachment.

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