Elephant tramples 8-year-old girl to death in Indonesia

The girl, named Citra, died on November 1 after three days in a coma due to severe brain trauma suffered in the attack on October 30.

West Rumbai Police Chief Said Khairul Iman said the incident began when Citra’s father heard a noise outside at dawn. Seeing three elephants in front of the door, he quickly led his wife and four children out the back door. In a panic, Citra slipped and fell, then was trampled by a charging elephant.

The tragedy is the result of decades of conflict between humans and elephants in Riau, said Zulhusni Syukri, director of the Rimba Satwa Foundation, which tracks elephants with GPS collars. “Elephants have been hunted, beaten or chased away from their villages. These traumas have made them more wary and aggressive,” he said.

Mr. Syukri also emphasized that the saying “elephants never forget” is partly true because elephants have a very strong memory and sense of smell, sometimes returning to places where conflicts have occurred to attack humans they believe have previously caused harm.

Authorities are now trying to guide the elephants back into the forest to avoid danger to people.

Experts say the root cause of the problem is deforestation. Areas that once housed Sumatran elephants have been replaced by oil palm, rubber, acacia plantations and industrial zones, forcing elephants closer to human settlements in search of food.

“Elephants often come to people’s homes to look for leftover rice, cooking oil or instant noodles. Normally they avoid people, but if they have been attacked before, they can react violently,” Syukri said, adding that people could retaliate with violence.

In fact, there have been several cases of elephant abuse on the island of Sumatra. In 2021, an elephant was beheaded and its tusks stolen in Banda Alam, Aceh province. In 2022, a pregnant elephant was poisoned in Riau.

The Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) urged people not to attack wild elephants: “We understand the fear, but aggressive actions will only make the situation worse.”

Sumatran elephants are now classified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). According to BKSDA, there are only about 300 elephants left in Riau, a decline of 70% in the past 20 years. Since 2021, the Rimba Satwa Foundation has recorded more than 200 human-elephant conflicts across Sumatra, although human deaths are rare.

Source: https://congluan.vn/voi-giam-tu-vong-be-gai-8-tuoi-o-indonesia-10317195.html