(ID): 2 rare elephants shot dead in Indonesian jungles

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2 rare elephants shot dead in Indonesian jungles

 

By IRWAN FIRDAUS – 18 hours ago

 

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Two Sumatran elephants were found dead with

gunshots to the head in a protected forest in western Indonesia, a

conservationist said Tuesday.

 

Park rangers have been riding the animals for weeks in the Kerinci National

Park and surrounding areas to prevent entry by illegal loggers, who have

been clearing jungles at an alarming rate to make way for palm oil and other

commercial plantations.

 

Though provincial conservation chief Andi Basrul refused to speculate on a

motive for the shootings, he said they appeared to have been carried out by

professional poachers.

 

Basrul said the Sumatran elephants were both 20-year-old females. Rangers

found their bodies on March 24, hours after they were used for a patrol and

several hundred yards (meters) from their camp.

 

Conservationists believe there are less that 3,000 Sumatran elephants

remaining in the wild.

 

" It is a big blow to our efforts to protect these endangered animals, "

Basrul said.

 

The habitats of Sumatran elephants are quickly shrinking due to illegal

logging and land clearing. That has led, increasingly, to clashes with

humans, often because the starving animals stray into villages and destroy

crops in their search for food.

 

An investigation will be carried out into the latest attack in Bengkulu

province on Sumatra island, said Yatim Suyatmo, a police spokesman.

 

The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

 

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