Indonesia: Two Elephants Die of Wounds Northern Sumatra

Jakarta – Two female elephants were found dead with wounds on their rotting bodies in Aras Napal village, Langkat district, Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, a conservation agency said Friday.

The carcass of the first elephant without a left tusk was found in an orange plantation near a river about 150 meters from the Mount Leuser National Park, with footprints of the elephants around it suggesting a possibility of fighting, said Acting Head of the North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency, Irzal Azhar.

People heard the roar of the elephant on April 9 and anglers found the elephant’s body the next day, he added.

“Necropsy results concluded that the elephant died of blood loss with wounds on the chest and abdomen, which are identical to a male elephant’s lust attack,” Azhar explained.

When they arrived at the site, officials found the skeleton of another elephant with a rotting body and incomplete bones, believed to have been dead for more than six months.

Forensic tests concluded that the tuskless elephant, with a fractured skull, presumably died after fighting with a male elephant.

The two elephants were buried at a nearby location.