By Anadolu staff
ISTANBUL (AA) - A 20-year-old female Sumatran elephant was likely killed by electric shock in Indonesia’s Aceh province after becoming entangled in a high-voltage electric fence at a private plantation, authorities said Monday.
Aceh’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) reported finding the carcass in Karang Ampar village, according to the state news agency Antara.
Ujang Wisnu Barata, head of BKSDA Aceh, said the elephant’s trunk was caught in an electric wire fence installed at the plantation site.
Police cordoned off the area while awaiting a veterinary team to conduct a necropsy and oversee the burial, Antara reported.
In a separate incident in Riau province, conservation officials rescued a week-old elephant calf that fell into a septic tank at a company housing complex.
Supartono, head of the Riau Conservation Agency, told Antara that about 10 elephants rampaged through the complex, damaging six employee dormitory rooms before retreating to a nearby protected forest.
Rescuers later heard a calf crying and found it trapped in a septic tank about 6.5- to 8-foot deep.
The rescuers pulled the calf out manually in about 45 minutes.
The female calf was found to be in good health and was successfully reunited with its herd.
Supartono said the herd’s aggressive behavior may have been triggered by the calf’s distress calls.
The Sumatran elephant is listed as critically endangered, with an estimated population of 2,400 to 2,800, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which says poaching and habitat loss remain major threats to the species.