Five-months-pregnant woman is crushed to death by herd of elephants
A five-month pregnant woman and her unborn baby were crushed to death by a herd of elephants in Indonesia.
Karsini, 33, a mother of three, was tapping rubber trees with her husband Rasum on Sunday when the herd of about 15 jumbos entered their plantation in South Sumatra.
The woman banged empty jerry cans together like cymbals in a desperate attempt to scare off the animals, each weighing up to 4,000 kilos.
But the wild animals, frightened and enraged by the banging, rushed at the couple and brutally trampled Karsini and her unborn baby to death.
After the herd left, villagers in Musi Rawas regency retrieved Karsini’s body from the forest.
Karsini (L) was tapping rubber trees with her husband Rasum (R) when she was attacked
She had tried to scare the elephants off by hitting cans together, but it seemed to enrage them
File photo. A Sumatran elephant in the forests of Indonesia
AKP Muara Lakitan police chief M Abdul Karim said: “It is known that the victim was five months pregnant.
‘She had severe injuries to her abdomen and waist and her uterus was displaced to the left.
“Her husband was able to save himself.”
He added that wild elephants occur in herds of up to 100 in the region.
Officers from the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) were at the scene investigating, he said.
The police chief urged residents to stay away from the loose elephants instead of trying to chase them away.
He said, ‘Don’t disturb them, don’t try to chase them away.
“They are only looking for food. If you see an elephant, leave immediately.”
The Sumatran elephant is a critically endangered subspecies of the Asian elephant. It is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, south of Malaysia.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, Sumatran elephants are endangered, with only about 2,400-2,800 left worldwide.
The greatest threats to the survival of the species are habitat loss through deforestation, human activities and poaching.
The species was previously classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
The archipelago is constantly battling wildlife crime. Several cases of elephant poisoning have been reported in recent years. In 2019, for example, a Sumatran elephant was found decapitated and with its tusks torn off.
The elephant population is also threatened by large-scale poaching for their tusks, which are highly sought after in the illegal wildlife trade.
Due to ongoing deforestation, the natural habitat of the critically endangered elephants has shrunk and they are increasingly coming into conflict with humans.
Villagers in Musi Rawas Regency retrieved Karsini’s body from the forest
An area has been cordoned off following the tragic death of mother of three Karsini on Sunday
The elephant’s conservation status has been changed to critically endangered, as the population is reported to have declined by at least 80 percent over the past 75 years.
It is estimated that there are only about 1,500 Sumatran elephants left in the wild.
Elephants are rarely aggressive, but may exhibit aggressive behavior when they feel threatened or to protect their young.
In India alone, about 400 people die each year from collisions with elephants, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Human development has also led to the near extinction of the wild elephant, with only 30,000 to 50,000 elephants left in the world today.
Most of the animals live in India, where thousands of captive elephants are forced to work in harsh conditions their entire lives, overheating, being mistreated and in some cases being beaten for their behaviour.