New Delhi: A person was on Thursday detained for questioning in connection with the killing of a pregnant wild elephant in Kerala after it was allegedly fed a cracker-filled pineapple.
The Mannarkad forest team said they took one person into custody for questioning. The forest department is yet to reveal the identity of the person taken into custody.
Major breakthrough!
KFD has zeroed on the culprits and recorded the first arrest in the wild elephant death case.
— Kerala Forest Department (@ForestKerala) June 5, 2020
The police are also carrying out an investigation. Meanwhile, a post-mortem report revealed that the elephant was pregnant and had a broken jaw.
The elephant was allegedly fed with a pineapple filled with firecrackers, placed by some locals. The firecracker burst inside her mouth, leading to her death in Silent Valley Forest on May 27.
“First, we observed this animal on May 23 when we were informed by locals that an elephant has been roaming around in the private area of the forest. When one of our staff members went to saw the elephant, it was observed that the wound in the lower jaw area was exposed. Later, for at least 24 hours the animal was trying to look for water and on May 24 we received information that the animal has come into river Velliyar,” said Wildlife Officer, Silent Valley National Park.
The elephant was seen standing in the river with her mouth and trunk in the water, for some relief from the pain.
