One-Year-Old Baby Elephant Dies

Sumatran Baby elephant dies after losing its trunk to a trap set by a poacher in Indonesia.

 The one-year-old calf suffered a severe infection on Tuesday, two days after it was found by the local villagers in a condition described as very weak and the snare firmly attached to its trunk.

Authorities performed an amputation on half of its trunk at the elephant training center near Banda Aceh, and the baby elephant was reportedly recovering from it.

But the hopes were crashed as on Nov. 16, Tuesday morning the calf died.

“We did our best to save it’s life,” said Agus Arianto, the head of Aceh province conservation agency.  

“The injury was severe and terribly infected” He added.

“She suddenly started feeling ill because of the stress and rapidly spreading infection. Later on Tuesday morning, she was reported dead” Rika Marwati added, a vet at the conservation centre.

ALT: Sumatran Baby elephant’s trunk amputated;  Description: Officers performed a amputation in order to save the calf’s life. 

There are around 700 wild Sumatran elephants and are categorized as critically endangered species due to rapid deforestation and vulnerability to poachers.

Snares used by the poachers are made of steel or nylon wire. These traps are set on the forest floors especially for male elephants because of their highly- prized tusk in the Illegal markets.

Due to the  Covid pandemic, people are affected financially and many villagers are turning towards poaching because of economical reasons.  

Data according to Environment ministry Indonesia showed that the Sumatran elephant population has declined from 1,300 in 2014 to 693 which is down nearly 50% in the span of just seven years.

Shivam Bhamre 

Content Writer (Erakina By RTMN)

18/11/2021