A pregnant wild elephant died on 27th May 2020 as she ate a pineapple stuffed with crackers.
This news created a buzz on social media when Mohan Krishnan who is a forest officer, posted on his Facebook page, narrating the death of the elephant in the waters of the Velliyar River in Malappuram district.
“She trusted everyone. When the pineapple she ate exploded, she must have been shocked to not think about herself, but about the child, she was going to give birth to in 18 to 20 months.” Mohan Krishnan, Forest Officer.
The doctor who conducted her post-mortem found a nearly two-month-old fetus. “From the uterus, we could make out it was the first pregnancy of the elephant,” said the doctor. Source- abplive.com
When this news came up, social media such as Twitter, Facebook got flooded with the posts. This incident literally shocked everyone. There were many celebrities who also posted about this incident on their Twitter and Instagram handle.
According to the officer, the FIR was lodged against unidentified people under relevant sections of the Wild Life Protection Act over the incident. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, “Strict action will be taken against those who are responsible for killing the pregnant elephant. Forest department is probing the case and the culprits will be brought to book.
At first, people speculated that it was an intentional killing as a local alleged fed her pineapple with crackers but then it came up with another story, It was in order to resist wild boars from entering into plantation farms, locals often resorted to illegal acts of planting explosive-filled fruits.
“Primary investigations revealed, the elephant may have accidentally consumed in such fruit. Ministry is in constant touch with Kerala Govt & has sent them detailed advisory for the immediate arrest of culprits & stringent action against any erring official that led to the elephant’s death,” the ministry said in a tweet. Source- The Indian Express
The Ministry said in a series of tweets that one person has been arrested so far.
By Divya Sinha: