Indonesia: 46 elephants found dead in riau in three years - WWF

Antara 23 Feb 14;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - A total of 46 elephants were found dead in Riau province between 2011 and 2014, with most of them without ivory, spokesman to WWFs Riau branch Syamsidar said here on Sunday.

Quoting data collected by WWF, Syamsidar said in 2011 the bodies of 10 dead elephants were found in a timber estate in Duri city, Bengkalis and Kuantan Singingi districts. In 2012 there were 15 elephants found dead in plantation belonging to local people and companies operating in the province.

As in 2013, the bodies of 14 dead elephants were found, consisting of 13 in the Tesso Nilo National Park area and one in a timber estate managed by a private company. Recently, it was reported that seven more elephants were found dead in timber estate in Riau province, Syamsidar added.

"WWF expects the government will seriously investigate this case and those held responsible for killing the elephants are sent to jail," he said.

Meanwhile, spokesman to Pelalawan district police Adjunct Commissioner Lumban G Toruan said he had deployed police personnel to investigate the finding of seven elephant bones recently in the timber estate belonging to PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP).

The elephant bones are temporarily kept by Riau provinces Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) for further investigation to see the cause of the seven elephants death.

Earlier, spokesman from PT RAPP stated the company was ready to assist the police in the investigation process.

Reporting by Fazar Muhardi
Translating and Editing by Amie Fenia Arimbi

Editor: Aditia Maruli

Bones of seven elephants found in Riau`s industrial forest
Antara 23 Feb 14;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - The bones of seven elephants were recently found in an industrial forest in Pelalawan district, Riau province, spokesman to WWF Riau branch Syamsidar said here on Sunday.

"The seven bones were not found at the same time and location. We found the bones of two elephants last week, and the bones of four more elephants the day after. Last Friday (Feb 21 ), we found another one," Syamsidar said.

Meanwhile, spokesman to Pelalawan district police Adjunct Commissioner Lumban G Toruan said he had deployed police personnel to investigate the finding of elephant bones in the industrial forest.

The elephant bones are temporarily kept by Riau provinces Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) for further investigation to see the cause of the seven elephants death.

Reporting by Fazar Muhardi
Translating and Editing by Amie Fenia Arimbi

Editor: Aditia Maruli

Seven Elephants Found Dead in Riau
Jakarta Globe 23 Feb 14;

Jakarta. The remains of seven critically endangered Sumatran elephants, likely killed by humans, have been found in Riau’s Tesso Nilo National Park, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said on Saturday.

“Only skeletons were left of the seven dead elephants,” WWF spokesman Syamsidar told Indonesian news portal tempo.co.

The elephants died around three months ago, probably at the hands of human poisoners, he said.

Five cubs and an adult female were discovered next to one another and a seventh male was found elsewhere in the park.

The remains were discovered over the course of the past week, Syamsidar said.

“Learning from previous cases of elephant deaths, we strongly suspect that [these deaths] were due to poisoning,” he said. “But autopsies are still needed to prove the suspicion.”

The latest findings brought the total number of elephant deaths in Riau over the past three months to 10, nine of which were believed to have been caused by poisoning.

Syamsidar said that the deaths were the result of human-animal conflict in an area where some membera of the local populations saw elephants as pests.

Park head Tandia said his office was investigating the incident.

The Natural Resources Conservation Agency’s [BKSDA] Riau office will perform the autopsies.

Indonesian elephants found dead, poisoning suspected
(AFP) Google News 24 Feb 14;

Jakarta — Seven Sumatran elephants have been found dead in western Indonesia and it is thought they were poisoned, a wildlife official said Monday, just the latest deaths of the critically-endangered animals.

Dozens of the elephants have died after being poisoned in recent years on Sumatra island, as the creatures come into conflict with humans due to the rapid expansion of palm oil plantations which destroys their habitat.

The latest to die were a female adult, five male teenagers, and a male calf believed to be from the same herd, said local wildlife agency spokesman Muhammad Zanir.

The remains of the elephants were found on February 16 just outside Tesso Nilo National Park and it is thought they died five months earlier, he said.

"There is an indication that they were poisoned," he said. "Some people may consider the elephants a threat to their palm oil plantations and poison them."

While Sumatran elephants are regularly found dead, it is rare to discover so many at the same time.

Swathes of rainforest have been destroyed in recent years to make way for plantations and villagers increasingly target Sumatran elephants, which they regard as pests.

While most concessions for palm oil companies are granted outside Tesso Nilo, in Riau province in eastern Sumatra, many villagers still illegally set up plantations inside the park, said WWF spokeswoman Syamsidar, who goes by one name.

Poachers also sometimes target the animals -- the smallest of the Asian elephants -- for their ivory tusks, which are in high demand for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

The WWF says there are only between 2,400 and 2,800 Sumatran elephants remaining in the wild and warns they face extinction in less than 30 years unless the destruction of their habitat is halted.

Rampant expansion of plantations and the mining industry has destroyed nearly 70 percent of the elephant's forest habitat over 25 years, according to the WWF.

Protection group the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the elephants as "critically endangered", one step below "extinct in the wild".