Pekanbaru, Indonesia: A Sumatran elephant was found decapitated with its tusks ripped off in an apparent poaching of the critically endangered subspecies, an Indonesian conservation official said.
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The rotting corpse of the 40-year-old male creature was discovered by a plantation worker on Monday in Riau province on Sumatra island.
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“The elephant’s head had been cut off and its severed trunk was found a metre away from the body,” chief of the local conservation agency Suharyono, who goes by one name, said in a statement on Tuesday.
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Authorities said the mutilated elephant had likely been dead for almost a week, adding that they were looking for those responsible.
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“We suspect the elephant was hunted and killed and then its head was cut off to remove the tusks,” Suharyono said.
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Rampant deforestation has reduced the species’ natural habitat and brought them into increasing conflict with humans, while their tusks are prized in the illegal wildlife trade.
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Last year, the corpse of an elephant was found with its tusks missing in Aceh province in an apparent poisoning case.
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Indonesia’s environment ministry estimates there are fewer than 2,000 Sumatran elephants still in the wild.
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