Elephant Dies After Eating Pineapple Stuffed with Crackers
A pregnant elephant was killed after eating pineapples filled with firecrackers. Watch our latest video for all the details.
A wild elephant had left the forests of Silent Valley in Palakkad district and was walking in a nearby village in search of food. She ate a pineapple filled with firecrackers, allegedly left by some locals. Pineapples filled with crackers are usually used by locals to protect their fields against wild boars. The fruit exploded in her mouth, the cracker explosion in her mouth was so strong that her tongue and mouth were badly injured. The elephant walked around in the village, in searing pain and in hunger. She was unable to eat anything because of her injuries.
The incident went viral after a forest officer narrated the details of the horrific death on social media. Forest officer Mohan Krishnan, was part of the Rapid Response Team to rescue the elephant. He wrote on Facebook, " When the pineapple she ate exploded, she must have been shocked not thinking about herself, but about the child she was going to give birth to in 18 to 20 months. She didn't harm a single human being even when she ran in searing pain in the streets of the village. She didn't crush a single home. This is why I said, she is full of goodness."
The elephant eventually walked up to the Velliyar River and stood there. Photos showed the elephant standing in the river with her mouth and trunk in water. The forest officer said, “Maybe she did this to reduce the unbearable pain and to avoid flies and other insects on her injuries.” The forest officials brought two captive elephants, who were called Surendran and Neelakanthan, to lead her out of the river. "But I think she had a sixth sense. She didn't let us do anything," Mohan Krishnan wrote. After hours of attempts by the officials to rescue the elephant, she died at 4 pm on May 27, standing in water.
The forest officer said, “She needs to be given the farewell she deserves. For that, we took her inside the forest in a lorry. She lay there on firewood, in the land she played and grew up. The doctor who did her post-mortem told me that she was not alone. I could sense his sadness though the expression on his face was not visible due to his mask. We cremated her in a pyre there. We bowed before her and paid our last respects." The Kerala Police have filed an FIR against unidentified persons over the death of the elephant.
