Guwahati: A pregnant elephant was killed in Kerala's Malappuram after gorging on a pineapple laced with explosives that some locals fed her last week. The animal, suffering untold pain and misery, died standing in a river.
This incident has caused a huge outcry after it was shared on social media by Mohan Krishnan, a Section Forest Officer of Nilambur who was a part of the rescue team.
According to forest officials, the elephant had ventured into the village in search of food. Mischief makers took this opportunity to feed her a pineapple filled with explosives, which is a tactic used by locals to drive away wild animals. When the elephant consumed the pineapple, it burst within her mouth, causing her extreme anguish.
Krishnan said that she came out to the village in search of food and "she did not know about the selfish human beings that she was about to witness." "She believed everyone. When the pineapple that she ate burst, she must have been in shock not thinking about herself, but the child she was about to give birth to in 18 or 20 months," the forest officer wrote in a Facebook post that has gone wildly viral, with netizens coming together to condemn cruelty towards the magnificent animal.
After the incident, the she-elephant did not immediately die. She roamed around the village but was unable to consume any food because of pain. She later went and stood in the Velliyar river hoping that it would relieve some of her pain. The river would end up becoming her grave.
Krishnan says that when he saw her, she was standing in the river, with her mouth and trunk submerged in water. Although two elephants were brought to rescue the suffering pachyderm, examination revealed that she had expired standing in the river on May 29.
The forest officer shared that felt the river start to boil with the tears of the elephants who had been brought in to rescue the pregnant jumbo. It was the river's protest against the selfish mankind Krishnan wrote.
When her post mortem was conducted, officials realized that the elephant was bearing a child. "The doctor who conducted the postmortem said as he wept that she wasn't alone. Though the mask helped him hide the expression, I understood his sorrow," Krishnan added.
"We cremated her there itself. Even as flames engulfed her, I prayed to the mother in her. Being one from humankind all I could say was, sister sorry", wrote Krishnan, ending his sorrowful Facebook post.