How can people be so cruel?
In Indonesia, poachers injured a baby elephant so badly with a trap that the female’s trunk had to be amputated.
The baby elephant stepped into a snare trap near the forest village of Alue Meuraksa on the island of Sumatra, which is used by poachers to catch their conspecifics and kill them for their ivory. Rescuers found the animal on Monday and were able to rescue it after it was abandoned by its own herd.
But the one year old female was doing very badly. The noose had almost severed her trunk. To save her life, the conservationists had only one option: They had to amputate half of her trunk. Now she is nursed up in a rescue center.
The little elephant lady is currently being treated in a rescue centerPhoto: Munandar / AP
“The intent behind the trap was obviously to poach endangered species and make money,” said Agus Arianto, chief of the Aceh Province Conservation Agency. The one year old animal belongs to the endangered species of Sumatran elephants. In the past seven years, their number has almost halved. Today there are only around 700 Sumatran elephants left.
According to Arianto, the poaching problem in Sumatra is getting worse due to the corona pandemic. Because: More and more Indonesians would hunt endangered animals in order to make ends meet despite the tense economy. It wasn’t until July that a headless elephant was found on an oil palm plantation in eastern Aceh province. A poacher and four ivory buyers were arrested. They face up to five years imprisonment and a fine of 100 million rupiah (about 6,000 euros) if convicted.