Another incident of death of a wild elephant in Kerala in April has again shaken the country. The elephant had accidentally bitten an explosive-laden coconut, which has been an old practice of farmers and poachers – using booby-trapped fruits to chase away or kill wild animals.
The wild elephant was found dead on April 11, in Karavoor under Kollam District. The jumbo was found with a big wound in its mouth, which initially was believed to have been caused by broken tree trunks or bamboos while feeding.
The elephant was first spotted by locals a couple of days ago at a weak condition and alerted the Forest Officials. Despite their attempts to recuse and treat the animal, it died on April 11.
Like in the case of the elephant in Palakkad, this jumbo too died of starvation as is could not eat or drink for days due to the injury in its mouth. Later a postmortem revealed that the injury was caused by explosives and not eating tree trunk or bamboos.
Following an investigation, three men who have a history of poaching have been arrested. The accused have been identified as Renjith, Animon and Sharath, all natives of Karavoor.
