A pregnant elephant died in Kerala, India after eating a pineapple filled with firecrackers on May 27. The farmers are known to put fireworks inside food and plant it on the edges of their fields to keep away animals, especially wild boars, according to a spokesperson from the Kerala Forest Department.
Mohan Krishnan from the team who attempted to rescue the animals, first shared the poor animal’s story on Facebook.
“She trusted everyone. 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,” Krishnan said.
“It is a murder. Malappuram is famous [for] such incidents, it is India’s most violent district. For instance, they throw poison on roads so that 300-400 birds and dogs die at one time,” said animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi, noting that an elephant is killed every three days in the region.
Local authorities are now probing into the killing of the 15-year-old elephant, with two organizations offering money rewards to anyone who can provide information on who could have done it.
While the investigation is ongoing, several people are showing tributes to the mother elephant and her baby.
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