Yahoo News 27 Mar 11;
JAKARTA (AFP) – A rare Sumatran elephant has died in Indonesia after blocking a village street for a week, an official said Sunday.
The female elephant was in a "weak condition" after becoming separated from its herd about a week ago in Bengkalis district, Riau province, conservation agency official Adit Gunawan told AFP.
"It was hungry. We gave it food, water and medical attention. We tried our best to nurse it back to health but it wasn't getting better and died on Saturday evening," he said.
An autopsy to determine the cause of death is being carried out, he said.
Antara state news agency reported that the elephant, along with her two calves, had been blocking a tarred road near a housing complex since last Monday. The elephant could have been poisoned, the report added.
However Gunawan said there was only one calf, which would be taken to the agency's elephant training centre and "may be released to the wild again if conditions allow".
"I don't want to speculate the cause of death until we get the formal autopsy report. It might have died from stress, lack of food or poisoning," he said.
There are at most 3,350 Sumatran elephants remaining in the wild, according to the environmental group WWF.
Conflicts between humans and animals are increasing as people encroach on wildlife habitats in Indonesia, an archipelago with some of the world's largest remaining tropical forests.
Wild Sumatran elephant dies in Riau
Antara 27 Mar 11;
Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - An adult wild elephant that blocked a street in Balai Raja vilage, Mandau subdistrict, Bengkalis district, Riau province, on March 21 finally died on Saturday night.
The Sumatran elephant was found dead in the Duri area of PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia in Bengkalis district, said Heri who had evacuated the ill-fated animal`s body.
The authorities from Riau province`s natural resources conservation agency (BKSDA) had attempted to help the ailing elephant by giving it bottles of infusion and taking its blood sample, he said.
"Bottles of infusion have been given and a blood sample has even been taken to find out the causes of that elephant`s sickness," Heri said.
The BKSDA authorities had also brought a tame elephant from Minas elephant training center to help it, he said adding that the BKSDA and WWF authorities had conducted an autopsy on the dead elephant.
Near the dead elephant, there were two baby elephants.
Samsuardi of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Riau province said the wild elephant could have been poisoned and it was the sixth elephant which died this year.
Along with its two babies, that ill-fated elephant was found blocking an asphalted street to Cendana housing complex in Balai Raja vilage on March 21.
The housing complex for teachers was located next to an oil-producing company, Chevron, Berton Panjaitan, a local resident, said.
Conflicts between elephants and humans remain a serious problem to the people of Bengkalis.
In November 2010, for instance, tens of wild Sumatran elephants repeatedly invaded Petani village, Mandau subdistrict, Bengkalis district over a period of several days.
The wild elephants` presence had forced many of the villagers to stay home as working on their farms as usual had become risky.
The Petani village`s head, Rianto, said that situation had made his people stay at home rather than going to their farmings.
In June 2010, a herd of wild elephants also attacked Petani village, damaging four houses.
The wild animals also killed a resident recently. The villagers, whose houses were damaged, took refuge at their in relatives` houses and neighbors.(*)
(R013/HAJM/f001)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Elephant’s Death Sparks Call for Govt to Set Up Human-Animal Conflict Team
Jakarta Globe 28 Mar 11;
Pekanbaru, Riau. Despite valiant efforts to save it, a Sumatran elephant died in Riau on the weekend, prompting the World Wildlife Fund to call on the government to set up a team to manage human-elephant conflict in the region.
The weak adult female elephant, which was accompanied by two calves, was found on March 21 blocking access to a housing complex in Balai Raja village in Bengkalis district, Riau.
Concerned residents called the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), but the elephant collapsed on Wednesday morning. A BKSDA medical team took blood samples and gave the animal intravenous fluids, but were unable to save it.
Veterinarian Rini Deswita, from the BKSDA, said the elephant was suffering from gastrointestinal problems and was not able to keep any food down.
“It was also severely dehydrated,” Rini said. “We will know the precise cause of death after we perform an autopsy.”
Samsuardi, who works on Human-Elephant Conflict Mitigation at WWF Riau, said he suspected the elephant had been poisoned.
His organization on Sunday called on the government to immediately establish a so-called Flying Squad to address human-elephant conflict in Balai Raja.
“Balai Raja contains the largest population of elephants in Riau,” said Syamsidar, a spokesman for WWF Riau, on Sunday. “But because their habitat has been destroyed to make way for residences and plantations, the animals are suffering.”
In 1990, 16,000 hectares of land in Balai Raja was set aside for the Marwa Wildlife Sanctuary. Today, however, only 120 hectares remains, most of which is secondary forest.
Didi, a Balai Raja local, said residents had tried to feed and bathe the female elephant after seeing it mistreated. Some residents had thrown objects at the elephant after it ate their crops, he said.
“Just look at the wounds on the elephant’s ears,” Didi said. “There is a large chance they were caused by people from around here.”
