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Village rule hampers elephant death probe
Giantâs tragic death: An elephant is found dead with its tusks missing on a plantation in Ranto Sabon hamlet, Aceh Jaya regency, Aceh, on Sunday
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Giantâs tragic death: An elephant is found dead with its tusks missing on a plantation in Ranto Sabon hamlet, Aceh Jaya regency, Aceh, on Sunday. Five wild elephants have been found dead from either poisoning or entrapment over the past year. (Antara/Syahrol Rizal) (Antara/Syahrol Rizal)
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span class="inline inline-none">Giant's tragic death: An elephant is found dead with its tusks missing on a plantation in Ranto Sabon hamlet, Aceh Jaya regency, Aceh, on Sunday. Five wild elephants have been found dead from either poisoning or entrapment over the past year. (Antara/Syahrol Rizal)
Politics has polluted an investigation in to the gruesome killing of a wild animal in Aceh, with the authorities mute in the face of allegations that the suspected killer was affiliated with the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM).
Last week, a Sumatran elephant was found dead in Ranto Sabon, Sampoiniet, Aceh. The elephant had head injuries; his tusks and eyes had been removed; and his trunk was detached from his body.
Forestry Ministry Zulkifli Hasan said the Aceh Police had named five suspects ' identified as HSB, SDI, RUS, STD and SAMS ' who allegedly killed the animal due to economic hardship.
However, Zulkifli said the attempt to detain them had been suspended over security concerns.
'It turns out that the situation was not as simple as we imagined. The police have named the five people as suspects. However, four of them absconded, and their leader, who was in fact a former GAM combatant is being protected by the local villagers,' Zulkifli said.
Zulkifli said that the ministry had coordinated with the National Police chief to find the right solution.
He said the police must be careful to not create unrest, which could reignite conflict, in the area.
'Our team, the forest rangers and the police need to be really careful, as we are dealing with whole village. We cannot risk any human lives, even though we want to resolve the case,' Zulkifli said.
The death of the wild elephant caused national outcry with more than 14,800 people joining an online petition at change.org.
Aceh resident Aulia Ferizal who initiated the online petition on change.org, called on the government to immediately launch a probe into the elephant's death and gave the ministry a one-week deadline to arrest the killer.
'Law enforcers shouldn't be afraid of the fact that one of the perpetrators was once a combatant. This shows how weak our law enforcement is,' Aulia told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
He also said the government should not have allowed companies to open oil palm and cocoa plantation in the protected forest in the first place, as it was the elephant's habitat.
'Plantations are in the protected forest and the elephants eat these crops,' Aulia said.
Responding to the public outcry, Zulkifli said that it took more than just the central government to
protect the environment and put a stop to open farms and plantations in protected forest areas.
He said the local government had the authority to make a decision on the issue of land use.
Another elephant died on Wednesday at Saree Elephant Training Center in Aceh Besar, due to malnutrition.
'[The elephant calf] was brought to the training center and we gave it optimum treatment, but we could not save it,' the head of the training center, Nurdin, said.
The 2-month-old elephant, which was named Raju, was found by residents of Blang Pante Raya village in Aceh Timur in April. The residents took care of the elephant before it was finally taken to the training center.
Raju's death was attributed to his weak immune system, a side effect of being separated from his mother.
