Pekanbaru, Riau Province, May 4 (ANTARA) - The Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BBKSDA) has confirmed that two dead elephants found at Duri, Bengkalis District, were poisoned.
"There are indications that the two elephants died after being poisoned," Riau BBKSDA Chairman Syahimin said here Wednesday.
The two Sumatran elephants (Elephant maximus sumatranus), both female, were found dead recently at Duri, a region where conflicts between people and elephants often happen.
The confirmation about the cause of their deaths, was received from a sample test from the Veterinary Test and Investigation Office (BPPV) in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra.
The first dead elephant was found late March. The case had caused a furor among local villagers because the 20-year elephant was lying in the middle of a road with a two-year old elephant.
Despite emergency aid given to the adult female elephant, she finally died in the secondary forest area of PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia at Duri.
On April 1, another female elephant was found dead in the same Duri area.
Duri is prone to conflicts between elephants and people because the habitat of elephants in Balai Raja sanctuary area has been converted to oil palm plantations and human settlements.
The area is believed to have around 30 to 40 elephants. Of the 16,000-ha sanctuary area, only 200 hectares are now left.
Last April, ProFauna, an animal protection charity in Indonesia, urged Bengkulu's Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) to investigate the death of four Sumatran elephants at an oil palm plantation owned by PT Alno in North Bengkulu.
"The BKSDA and police must investigate this case because elephant deaths happen almost every year but the perpetrators are never punished," Bengkulu ProFauna spokesman Radius Nursidi said in Bengkulu recently.
He said four Sumateran elephants were found dead at an oil palm plantation in the past month. Although the results of an official autopsy were not yet known, it was strongly believed the animals were poisoned to death.
