An endangered Sumatran elephant found dead with its tusks removed in northwestern Indonesia may have been killed by poachers using poisoned pineapples, conservationists said Monday.
It was the ninth dead elephant found in that region of Sumatra island in three months.
The giant 30-year-old male probably was poisoned, said Syahimin, a government conservationist in Riau province who uses one name as is customary in Indonesia.
The latest body was discovered on a pulp plantation on Friday and pineapples were scattered on the ground nearby. A sample was sent to a laboratory where earlier tests have confirmed poisoning in the deaths of seven other elephants, four of them last month.
Police have said they are investigating all the incidents. No arrests have been made.
A World Wildlife Fund for Nature campaigner who saw the carcass, Syamsidar, said: "Clearly, poachers are behind the elephant killings for money because the ivory has a high value on international markets."
Indonesia's endangered elephants, tigers, rhinos and orangutans are threatened by shrinking jungle habitat, which is cut and burned to make way for plantations or sold as lumber. Only 3,000 Sumatran elephants are believed to still live in their natural surroundings.
The elephants increasingly venture into inhabited areas in search of food and sometimes destroy crops or attack humans, which upsets residents who lease land for commercial farming.
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Associated Press
KPK Sebut Prabowo Subianto Tak Perlu Setor Nama-Nama Calon Menterinya
Presiden terpilih Prabowo Subianto, dikatakan tidak perlu menyetor nama-nama calon menteri, kepada Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi. Apalagi nama-nama itu distabilo tertentu.
