November
17, 2018
Rampant
deforestation has reduced the species' natural habitat and brought them into
conflict with humans
A
Sumatran elephant has been found dead with its tusks removed in an apparent
poaching case targeting the critically endangered animal, an Indonesian
conservation official said Friday.
The
10-year-old male's rotting corpse was found in Blang Awe village in Aceh
province earlier this week.
"His tusks were missing and there were
traces of blood in the location where he was found," Aceh conservation
centre head Sapto Aji Prabowo told AFP.
Officials
estimated the animal had been dead for at least a week when the carcass was
discovered.
The cause
of death was not immediately clear because the body was badly decomposed,
Prabowo said.
Tissue
samples will be analysed for signs of poisoning.
Rampant
deforestation has reduced the species' natural habitat and brought them into
conflict with humans, while their tusks are prized in the illegal wildlife trade.
At least
11 wild elephants died
in Aceh last year, most of them killed by humans.
In July,
a Sumatran elephant was found dead from apparent poisoning in a palm oil
plantation.
The
environment ministry estimates only around 500 Sumatran elephants remain in
Aceh.
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