Three endangered elephants found dead in Indonesia

Three endangered Sumatran elephants have been found dead after their herd rampaged through a village in western Indonesia, a conservationist and officials said.

The cause of the animals’ deaths is being investigated but a local conservationist said they might have died after eating poison meant for wild boars as they scavenged food from village stores.

“Three elephants have been killed. We don’t know the cause but we have sent a team to the location to find out,” Aceh province conservation agency chief Abubakar Chek Mat said.

“Conflicts between elephants and residents happen often in this location and we’re trying to find a solution to drive the elephants back to their habitat.”

Bakhtiar, an activist with local environmental group Leuser International Foundation, said a herd of elephants had forced around 50 villagers to flee their homes.

“For the past week, dozens of Sumatran elephants have gone to the village in east Aceh district and destroyed houses and crops, forcing 50 villagers to seek refuge elsewhere,” he said.

“When the people returned home... they found three elephants dead. They said the elephants might have consumed poison meant for wild boars.”

Human-animal conflicts are a rising problem as people encroach on wildlife habitats in Indonesia, an archipelago with some of the world’s largest remaining tropical forests.

There are up to 3,350 Sumatran elephants remaining in the wild, according to the environmental group WWF.