The forest department in Kerala has arrested one suspect in the case of death of a pregnant wild elephant in Kerala. The person is being interrogated in the matter. The elephant had died after she was fed a pineapple filled with firecrackers by some villagers.
The autopsy report of the dead elephant has revealed that the crackers stuffed in the pineapple which was fed to the elephant burst in her mouth leading to severe injuries. The elephant was not able to eat anything due to the deep wounds, due to which she fell and drowned due to weakness. The elephant’s preliminary post-mortem examination was conducted at the Mannarkkad Forest Division. It revealed that the animal died as a result of drowning, followed by inhalation of water which led to lung failure. This has been identified as the immediate cause of the death of the elephant.
“Major and incapacitating wounds and injuries in oral cavity caused localised sepsis and have most likely occurred following an explosive blast in the mouth. This resulted in excruciating pain and distress in the region and prevented the animal from taking food and water for nearly two weeks. Severe debility and weakness in turn resulted in the final collapse in water that led to drowning,” the preliminary post-mortem report said.
The investigation in the case has been moving on a faster pace and the forest department has started interrogating the suspect in custody. As per reports, three people are under suspicion of feeding the pineapple full of crackers.
The incident happened in Pallakad and not Mallapuram
Kerala Chief Wildlife Warden Surendra Kumar said that it is hard to believe that someone would have deliberately fed crackers to the pregnant elephant but the investigation is underway. He also said that no one dares to go nearby a wild elephant and feed them. He also clarified that the incident happened in Pallakad and not Mallapuram.
Reportedly, the locals saw the female elephant on 25 May when she came to their village and she died on May 27 after standing in water for the whole day. The FIR was registered on May 28. Surendra Kumar said that they have questioned some people about the incident but no evidence was gathered so far that indicates that someone deliberately fed her crackers.
After the incident took caught rage on social media, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the investigation is underway and strict action will be taken against the perpetrators.
Female elephant’s jaw was broken
Chief Wildlife Warden Surendra Kumar had revealed that her jaw was broken and she was unable to eat after she chewed the pineapple which exploded in her mouth. The issue came to light when forest officer Mohan Krishnan shared about it on social media. He said that she was standing in the river with her head dipped in water. “She trusted everyone. When the pineapple she ate exploded, she must have been shocked not thinking about herself, but about the child, she was going to give birth to in 18 to 20 months,” he wrote on Facebook.
