Indian police have arrested a plantation worker who was accused of causing the death of a pregnant elephant that died after biting a pineapple stuffed with firecrackers that exploded in its mouth, officials said Saturday, in a case that shocked the country.
credits ABS-CBN News
The 15-year-old elephant was unable to eat after the injury and died in a river in Pallakad in southern Kerala state.
The latest casualty of a growing conflict in South Asia between nature and humans as ever more forest is lost to urban expansion, Surendra Kumar, the state forest officer aid.
The photos of the animals standing for hours with its badly injured mouth and trunk in the water went viral and gives fright online.
Forest officials also said the explosion caused severe damage to its mouth, leaving the creature unable to eat or drink for days.
The state forest department announced that they arrest and will be investigating the farmer, known as P. Wilson who wanted to kill the elephant mainly wild boar, to prevent it from damaging crops.
“The man has admitted that they used the explosive-filled coconuts to target the wild animals,” Surendra Kumar, Kerala’s chief wildlife warden, told AFP.
Two of his associates were still at large, the officer said.
LORD GANESH
The latest incident caused widespread outrage on social media, including from several sports and Bollywood celebrities, who condemned the “inhuman act” and called for harsh action against the perpetrators.
But it stirred another controversy after several Hindu right-wing figures on social media turned the death into a hate campaign against Muslims, falsely claiming that the community were behind the incident.
Many right-wing Hindu figures alleged online the creature was specifically targeted because the animal is an embodiment of Lord Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu deity.
Members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, including environment minister Prakash Javadekar and parliamentarian Maneka Gandhi, also claimed the event happened in Malappuram, a Muslim-majority district.
The incident took place in Palakkad district, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) away.
India is home to nearly 30,000 elephants, equivalent to 60 percent of the world’s wild Asian pachyderms.
But urban expansion has put the animals in conflict with humans.
About 2,360 people were killed in elephant attacks between 2014 and 2019, according to Indian government data.
In the same period about 510 elephants died, including 333 from electrocution and roughly 100 from poaching and poisoning, the figures stated.
What can you say about this? Share your thoughts in the discussion box below.
