Indonesian Forestry Ministry Reveals Investigation Results of Elephant Death in Aceh and Jambi

1 month ago 31

December 2, 2024 | 12:14 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Forestry Ministry has conducted an investigation into the cause of the death of a Sumatran elephant calf in the Alue Jang Forest Area, Aceh Jaya. Director General of Conservation of Natural Resources and Ecosystems, Satyawan Pudyatmoko, stated that the deceased elephant was only two days old.

"As a follow-up to this elephant death incident, the Aceh BKSDA team has conducted an on-site investigation, medical examinations, and performed a necropsy. The examination results indicated that the death of the elephant calf is suspected to be due to dehydration and abnormalities/infection in its abdominal umbilical area," said Satyawan to Tempo on Monday, December 2, 2024.

In the records of the Ministry of Forestry for the year 2024, according to Satyawan, for the Aceh region, there were a total of eight elephant deaths, mostly due to elephant-human conflicts. "There were also five elephant births from January 2024 to October 2024," he said.

Aside from the deaths in Aceh, Satyawan also mentioned elephant deaths in Jambi last October. He stated that these elephant deaths are suspected to be the result of hunting with indications of elephant ivory poaching.

"This was confirmed from the post-mortem examination of the elephant, with findings including: a pair of missing tusks suspected to have been pulled out, the carcass of the animal already decomposed indicating that death had occurred quite some time ago, emitting a foul odor, and some organs already decomposed," he said.

Satyawan mentioned that there were no signs of violence on the elephant carcass such as rope traps and gunshot wounds. "Several organ samples were taken from the elephant carcass for toxicology and histopathology testing at the Indonesian National Police Forensic Laboratory."

Regarding this incident, Satyawan said that the Jambi BKSDA is collaborating with the Sumatran Wildlife Crime Unit to investigate and report to the police for further investigation and law enforcement against the perpetrators.

Witnesses have been summoned. "The Jambi BKSDA has also sent necropsy findings samples to the National Forensic Laboratory and is awaiting their results," he said.

Satyawan noted that in the Jambi region, five elephants died throughout 2024, mostly caused by human-elephant conflicts.

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