Indonesia: Young elephant dies at Tesso Nilo National Park

Rizal Harahap, thejakartapost.com 24 Nov 15;

The Flying Squad, a team of tame elephants and their mahouts, managed jointly by the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), Tesso Nilo National Park (TNTN) Agency and the WWF-Indonesia’s Riau program, has lost another of its members after Tino, a 2-year-old female elephant, was found dead in the national park on Friday morning.

Erwin Daulay, the elephant’s caregiver, was scheduled to take Tino and her mother Ria to a bathing site when he found the young elephant’s body.

“Erwin found Tino with her head in the dirt, around 10 meters from where Ria was tied up. She had continued to look at her baby elephant,” WWF-Indonesia’s Riau program spokesperson Samsidar said on Tuesday.

Samsidar said that one day before Tino died, the elephant was observed participating actively in all of the Flying Squad’s normal routines. “She was very active, swimming and diving with all the elephants in the Flying Squad team when they took a bath together in the Perbekalan River in the Tesso Nilo National Park area.”

Tino was the fourth baby elephant born to a Flying Squad member. Mahouts at the WWF’s Riau program camp in Lubuk Kembang Bunga village, Pelalawan regency, Riau, named her Tino, taken from betino, which means “woman with a calm demeanor” in the area’s local language.

After Erwin reported the discovery, the Pelalawan administration’s animal husbandry agency’s veterinarian, Muchlisin, conducted an autopsy at the location.

“The autopsy took place until midnight on Friday and it ran a bit slowly due to rain,” said Samsidar.

She denied accusations that WWF-Indonesia had stalled the publication of information on the incident for four days as it occurred in a conservation area.

“Initially, we wanted to publish this case on Sunday morning but we had to first wait for the TNTN head’s approval for the publication as it is under the [TNTN] agency’s authority,” said Samsidar.

She said some of the elephant’s internal organs had been sent to a laboratory at the Veterinary Agency in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, to ascertain the cause of death. “Usually, the results of laboratory tests are available in around two weeks,” she added.

Meanwhile, Muchlisin said he did not find any indications of violence on Tino’s body. “But there was a red rash, which could have been caused by accumulating gas or bloating in her intestines. There are many factors that could cause such a condition, one of which is the consumption of too much young grass,” he said.

TNTN head Tandya Tjahjana said he had assigned civil servant investigators to the case. “They have traced areas around the location where she was found dead to see whether there is a particular situation that could danger elephants in the area,” said Tandya.

The BKSDA Riau’s technical affairs division head, Lukita Awang Nistyantara, said it was the second time the Flying Squad had lost a young elephant this year. “In May, a baby elephant named Nela was found dead in the national park area,” said Lukita.

“This should be a valuable lesson for us that the challenges of conservation efforts, including in protecting the lives of elephants in Sumatra, remain very high.” (ebf)


Flying Squad elephant dies mysteriously
Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 25 Nov 15;

The Flying Squad domesticated elephant team has again lost one of its youngest pachyderm members: 2-year-old Tino was found dead on Friday in Tesso Nilo National Park (TNTN), in Pelalawan regency Riau.

The carcass of the elephant, which was managed by the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) working together with the WWF-Indonesia’s Riau program and the TNTN, was initially found by her mahout Erwin Daulay not far from her mother, Ria, on Friday.

“Erwin discovered Tino’s corpse around 10 meters from her mother, who was tethered and standing up. The mother kept looking at her calf’s body,” said WWF-Indonesia spokesperson Samsidar on Tuesday.

She denied her office had intentionally postponed publicizing the incident for four days in order to not expose the incident.

“Actually, we intended to publicize it on Sunday, but we had to wait for approval from the TNTN Center head, as it was within their authority. They argued it should initially be reported to the Forestry and Environment Ministry, but the incident took place on the weekend, so it could only be reported on Monday,” said Samsidar.

Tino, born on Aug. 7, 2013, was the fourth calf born to a member of the Flying Squad. Mahouts at the WWF-Indonesia’s Riau program in Lubuk Kembang Bunga village, Pelalawan regency, Riau, named the calf Tino, which was taken from the local dialect: betino meaning a female who behaves calmly.

The finding was reported to the BKSDA Riau, TNTN Center and the Pelalawan Husbandry Office. The husbandry office’s veterinarian, Muchlisin, immediately went to the scene and led a necropsy on Tino’s carcass.

Some internal organs of the elephant have been sent to the lab at the Veterinary Center in Bukit Tinggi, West Sumatra, to confirm of the cause of death. “Usually, results would only be issued in two weeks,” said Muchlisin.

He claimed he had not found signs of violence or physical damage on the elephant. “But the rashes on and bloating of Tino’s intestines are believed to have been caused by a gas build-up, which might have been caused by consuming too much young grass,” said Muchlisin.

Meanwhile, TNTN Center head Tandya Tjahjana said he had deployed investigators to probe the case. “They have scoured the incident scene to look for whatever could have endangered the elephant, but they did not find any suspicious signs,” said Tandya.

BKSDA Riau technical affairs head Lukita Awang Nistyantara said Tino was the second elephant to die this year. “In May, an elephant calf named Nela was also found dead inside the TNTN area,” said Lukita.

“The incident serves as a valuable lesson for us. Conservation efforts and maintaining the survival of elephants in Sumatra remains a very daunting task,” he added.

Separately, WWF-Indonesia Central Sumatra program manager Wishnu Sukmantoro said the drought that swept across Riau over the past three months had made serious impacts on elephant habitat in the TNTN, especially as several parts of the conservation area had also been razed by fire.