Pregnant Elephant’s Death Highlights That Elephants Need You Now
The heartbreaking image of a trusting pregnant elephant who died in agony after she consumed a coconut packed with explosives rightfully sparked outrage worldwide.
A pregnant elephant in India was killed after she was fed a pineapple full of firecrackers. She strayed from a national park into the forest, which is being increasingly destroyed by human settlement.
Asian elephants are endangered, with less than 50,000 left in the wild. pic.twitter.com/lPPBZikckA
— AJ+ (@ajplus) June 3, 2020
PETA India’s emergency response team is in touch with senior forest officials in Kerala to help bring those responsible to justice. One arrest has been made, and three suspects have been identified.
The Animal Welfare Board of India, a government body, has also issued this letter:
This isn’t the first time an elephant has died after crude bombs exploded or firecrackers were set off. Elephants and other wild animals are often killed to protect crops, a practice which must be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
PETA India advises that, instead of killing animals, town and farm planning take into account the importance of protecting their natural habitats. There are also countless humane ways to protect crops, including fencing, noisemakers, and, in the case of elephants, planting chilli peppers around the farm perimeter.
PETA India also encourages state forest departments to hold educational workshops for local farmers on humane methods of crop protection, and the group urges the public never to take matters involving wild animals into their own hands and to contact the forest department instead.
Elephants are an Indian National Heritage Animal, and it’s high time they were treated as such. This includes protecting the forests in which they live and opposing cruel circuses, zoos, rides, festivals, and the like, for which they’re held captive and spend nearly their entire lives in chains.
You Can Help Elephants
Whether they’re barbarically killed or forced to give rides to tourists, elephants suffer at human hands. Please take action to protect them by urging the Indian minister of tourism to end cruel elephant rides:
