Tortured to Death, poor elephant...

Read an article today from local newspaper. A male elephant was found tortured to death at one of the rubber plantation in Riau. The poor elephant’s head was severely damaged, there are numerous deep punctured wounds all over its body. The trunk was almost chopped off and the ivory surely be show off. The saddest thing was this poor creature’s front legs were tied with 14mm of barbwire. This meant all the tortured were planned and purposefully.

Although the elephant was one of the endangered animal under government protection, seem the authority do almost none to maintain their welfare. Even the case is now under police investigation, I, personally, feel skeptics about the outcome. So many unsolved killed elephants in Indonesia and this was the first tortured case I’ve ever read , feeling so sad and helpless even when I’m writing this down.

The irony is, the villages near by seem to glad the attention they got by authorities in investigating the case. They said, the governor seem to care much more about elephant than the villages(well they were wrong, they care none but their own butt). They claimed that the elephant was not alone, usually with a group of 40 would out of the forest to steal and ate the crops and young palm plant. Almost 2000 young oil palm trees already been eaten. Now, the elephant dead, the group were gone.

I’m sure the culprit is one of the villages. The torture is supposed to rid the group away because they’re tiring of night watch.

But, who’s really fault? The villages? The elephants? The villages are poor, they are just try to save their crops, they are wrong to tortured animal but still they are so poor and uneducated which in some condition will force them did un logic things. They blamed the elephant, and that was wrong. The elephants are a very huge mammal which needs a large space to live and eat a lot of greens. The elephants never stay at one place but always moving around the forest in circle, due to their memories. The main problem is, there isn’t much more forest to be circling now, maybe the village was located/ built on their pathway, but I think they out of forest due to hunger. They eat a lot, you see, because they are so big. Actually most animals scare of human being. Their instinct told them to avoid us, human, but as human will do, unbearable hungers overcome the fear, and they took the consequences which cause death to one of their member. So sad…make me want to puke....

Riau forest has reduced from 6, 2 million hectares to 2.2 million hectares (maybe less) due to illegal logging but mostly for oil palm plantation for there are many crude palm oil factories in Riau which needs a lot of oil palms. The villages will still clearing the forest in order to plant more oil palm trees to make a living. The government and authorities seem to keep their eyes closed and many have enjoyed big fat enveloped from local oil palm factories owner.

If not because of WWF active observation in Riau forest due to protected the rest of endangered Sumatra elephants which have been dying in alarming pace ( population decline to 75% in 11 years and currently there are only approximately 400 Sumatran elephants in Riau.) , I’m 100% sure even when all the elephants have been slaughtered to none, no one in this world will know because this is Indonesia, where money talks never morals.

Ps.I post the picture of other elephant because the real one is to sadist to be posted ( I can't even make myself stare at it)