Elephants trample old woman to death
Pekanbaru, 16/7 (ANTARA) - Wild elephants have attacked an old woman to death near her palm oil plantation in Pinggir district in the Riau regency of Bengkalis, Antara news agency reported Friday.
The badly crushed body of Marsini, 63, was found by his husband Purwo Atmojo on Thursday.
“We heard the woman was attacked by more than one elephants,” head of the Riau natural resources conservation center Trisnu Danisworo said on Friday.
Trisnu said Purwo and Marsini lived in Muara Basung village, which is known as a regular track of the giant mammals. There are about 40 elephants living in Balai Raja conservatory near the village.
“The elephants’ habitat has been damaged due to the presence of palm oil plantations and resettlement areas,” Trisnu said.
Conflicts between human and elephant have claimed a number of lives in the past few years in Riau in the wake of rampant conversion of forests into plantations. Last month a local resident of Mandau district, also in Bengkalis, was trampled to death by elephants.
