Days after a pregnant elephant died in Kerala after it was fed a pineapple stuffed with firecrackers, the central government on Thursday took a serious note of the incident and said that it will be investigated properly.
Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar took to the micro-blogging site, to show his resentment. "Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill," he wrote.
On May 27, a 15-year-old pregnant pachyderm fell victim to an inhumane act after a pineapple filled with powerful firecrackers offered by a man exploded in her mouth when she chomped on it. It suffered serious injuries on its tongue and mouth. Later she walked into a river and waited for three days as its life was slowly snuffed out.
On Wednesday, the Environment Minister sought a report on the death of the elephant and said that stern action will be taken against the culprits.
Samuel Pachuau, the Wildlife Warden of the Silent Valley National Park, said: "It was on the 23rd of last month we came to know about this incident, when the elephant was spotted near a water source outside the National park."
According to him, the culprits had placed firecrackers inside a pineapple which was then eaten by the wild elephant. Apparently a practice in the area to shoo away the straying wild.
"We summoned a veterinarian and later on the 25th an elephant expert David Abraham came and examined and explained to us the grim situation," said Pachuau. From the examination, it looked like a two week wound and there were worms in the wound.
He added, "We informed the Forest officials about the prognosis and two days later the elephant died in a sitting posture in the water."
In the autopsy, it was found that the upper and lower jaw, teeth and tongue of the elephant were badly damaged. The cause of death is due to aspiration of the lungs as it was filled with water.
The incident has attracted huge condemnation on social media, where the several posts by netizens showed the mother elephant saying it was her fault to trust the human race, while the unborn child in her womb kept asking: "What is my fault, Ma?"
This horrific act sparked outrage on Twitter, where people demanded strict action against the accused. One person, Oman-based has created a Change.org petition addressed to the Minister of law and justice to take appropriate action against the accused.
The problem of course is the lack of punishment for those who indulge in crimes against animals. “Conviction of wildlife killing must receive a rigorous sentencing with hefty fines. And until India's wildlife laws were updated recently, penalties for killing were simply fines that had not risen in to keep pace with the atrocities caused to our beloved animals,” the petition argues, adding that ‘the inhuman and atrocious killer will hopefully be convicted and punished for harming an innocent animal.’
After the Kerala Forest department launched a 'manhunt' for those responsible for the death of a 15-year-old pregnant wild elephant, Humane Society International/India announced the reward of Rs 50,000 to track down the monsters.
(With inputs from IANS)
