“Horrific” killing of pregnant wild elephant in Kerala’s forest left Twitterati’s in shock

• The elephant had died after being seriously injured by firecrackers hidden in a pineapple.
• Forget coronavirus or even Cyclone Nisarga, #Elephant was the top twitter trend on June 3 with more than 19,800 tweets.
• The Kerala Forest Department has launched a ‘manhunt’ for those responsible for the death of a 15-year-old pregnant wild elephant.

As the nation was bracing up for the double whammy of cyclone Nisarga along with the coronavirus pandemic, a “horrific” event of a pregnant wild elephant being killed in Kerala’s Silent Valley Forest left many deeply saddened.

The mother elephant fell victim to an act of human cruelty after a pineapple filled with powerful crackers offered by a man exploded in her mouth when she chomped on it. The elephant had died after being seriously injured by firecrackers hidden in a pineapple.

“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,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Surendrakumar said.

The incident attracted various sympathetic comments from Twitterati’s. Forget coronavirus or even Cyclone Nisarga, #Elephant was the top twitter trend on June 3 with more than 19,800 tweets.

Tweeps even called for help from state authorities while others defined the act as “horrific” and “heartbreaking.”






Now, the Kerala Forest Department has launched a ‘manhunt’ for those responsible for the death of a 15-year-old pregnant wild elephant.

“Two sets of teams are probing this incident,” said Samuel Pachuau, the Wildlife Warden of the Silent Valley National Park.

Soon after the autopsy was conducted, the dead elephant was buried in the forest.

Even though there have been reports of man-animal conflict in the forest areas, where wild animals destroy crops of farmers, this episode has left many deeply saddened.

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