Syndicate Gains From Elephant-Human Conflict

Pekanbaru (Antara Bali) - A syndicate of tusk collectors have used the conflict between humans and elephants in Riau as a pretext to kill the protected animals and collect their tusks, the regional Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BBKSDA) said.

"The conflict has been used by tusk hunters for their own advantage," BBKSDA head Bambang Dahono Adji told ANTARA here on Wednesday.

He said the indication of a syndicate's involvement was strong, following the discovery of a dead Sumatran elephant in Petani village, Bengkalis, on Wednesday.

Bambang stated that a BBKSDA medical team visited the scene and found traces of a poisonous pesticide in the elephant's body. "The elephant had been poisoned and its tusks taken," he said.

"With the latest discovery, eight elephants have been recorded to have died in the past six months in the Sumatran province," Bambang noted. (IGT/T007)