Pekanbaru, Riau Province, (Antarariau.com) - Riau police said ivory hunters in the province killed not only adult elephants but also wild calves to take the animals body organs.
"Besides taking the ivories of adult elephants, the hunters also killed young Sumatran elephants. They take their body organs for sale," Senior Commissioner Yohanes Widodo, the director of Riau Polices Special Criminal Investigation Department, said here on Saturday.
In a reconstruction conducted in the Tesso Nillo National Park (TNTN), Pelalawan District, on Thursday, the hunters showed how they killed three elephants last week.
"The tree elephants killed by the suspects consisted of two male calves and one female adult elephant. After taking their parts, they left the dead animals behind," the police officer said.
After being checked, the two young animals aged less than 10 years. According to Yohanes, the suspects, in carrying out their actions, were sadistic and were believed to be professional.
"I was surprised to see their actions during the reconstruction process. They had the heart to kill the calves only to take their ivories which were still short," he said.
The World Willife Fund (WWF) for Riau said that over the past ten years (2004-2014) more than 145 Sumatran elephants were found dead in saddening conditions. The cause of their death was not known.
"It is expected that some died of conflict with villagers, some were killed by ivory hunters and only a small number of them died of a disease," WWF Program for Riau public relations officer Syamsidar said.
