Four Sumatran elephants found dead in Bengkulu

Antara 27 Apr 11;

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - Four Sumatran elephants (elephas maximus Sumatrae) have been found dead within one month in an oil palm plantation area of PT Alno in Putri Hijau, North Bengkulu district, an environmental activist said.

"We obtained the information from a ProFauna activist who stayed around the Sablat Elephant Training Center. Based on the information, the four elephants were found dead in the Alno plantation area," Representative of ProFauna Bengkulu Radius Nursidi said here on Wednesday.

He said that the four elephants were believed to have died of poison, but the result of the autopsy had not yet been officially published.

Radius said that human-elephant conflict which caused the death of the animal almost occurred every year.

He said that in the period of 2004-2011, there were 14 elephants who were found dead but the causes of their death were not known.(*)
(A014/HAJM/A014)

Editor: Ruslan Burhani

Bengkulu`s BKSDA urged to probe four Sumatran elephant deaths
Antara 28 Apr 11;

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - ProFauna, an animal protection charity in Indonesia, has urged Bengkulu`s Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) to investigate the death of four Sumatran elephants at an oil palm plantation owned by PT Alno in North Bengkulu.

"The BKSDA and police must investigate this case because elephant deaths happen almost every year but the perpetrators are never punished," Bengkulu ProFauna spokesman Radius Nursidi said here Thursday.

He said four Sumateran elephants were found dead at an oil palm plantation in the past month. Although the results of an official autopsy were not yet known, it was strongly believed the animals were poisoned to death.

The fact that elephant deaths by unnatural causes occurred almost every year indicated that the government was not seriously handling wildlife conservation, he said.

According to data collected by ProFauna, seven elephants were found dead in the same region in the period 2004-2007. In 2009 there were two such cases and in 2010 one.

Overall, a total of 14 elephants had died by unnatural causes within seven years from 2004 to 2011.

"Ironically, none of the cases was processed legally. This is something that needs to be explained by the BKSDA and police," he said.

PoroFauna also urged BKSDA to close the road used by PT Alno Agro Utama to transport oil palm fruits because this road was possibly used by elephant hunters to enter the animals` habitat.
(Uu.KR-FNY/HAJM/A014)

Editor: Priyambodo RH