KUNMING, March 29 -- A villager has been hospitalized after being attacked by a wild elephant Wednesday in southwest China's Yunnan Province, local authorities said.

The accident occurred shortly after noon when the villager from Jinghong City was farming on a mountain three kilometers from his home, according to the city's information office.

The victim, whose abdomen was stabbed by the elephant's tusk, is being treated at a hospital in Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, which administers the city.

A similar tragedy struck Jinghong last month, when a migrant worker was killed by a wild elephant at a rubber tree plantation.

Wild Asian elephants are under Class-A protection in China, with a population of around 300 mainly scattered in Xishuangbanna and the cities of Pu'er and Lincang in Yunnan.