The elephant died of drowning in Palakkad after eating a fruit stuffed with firecrackers.
Pallakad| In a shocking incident of human cruelty, a pregnant wild elephant in Kerala’s Silent Valley Forest fell victim to a man who offered her a pineapple stuffed with powerful crackers. The crackers exploded in her mouth after she chomped on it, senior forest official informed on Tuesday.
“Her jaw was broken and she was unable to eat after she chewed the pineapple and it exploded in her mouth. It is certain that she was offered the pineapple filled with crackers to eliminate her,” Surendrakumar, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, told news agency PTI.
This incident was reported from Attapadi’s fringe area in Silent Valley.
The elephant died at the Velliyar river in Palakkad district on 27th May, Mr. Surendrakumar said. The pachyderm, as per the post mortem, was pregnant. “I have directed the forest officials to nab the culprit. We will punish him for ‘hunting’ the elephant,” the officer said.
The incident came to the light when Mohan Krishnan, a forest officer, wrote an emotional post on Facebook narrating the death of an elephant in waters of the Velliyar river.
“When we saw her she was standing in the river, with her head dipped in the water. She had a sixth sense that she was going to die. She took the Jalasamadhi in the river in a standing position,” Mr. Krishnan, who was tasked to bring the elephant back to the shore, wrote one Facebook.
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