"We urge the law enforcers to investigate the eight elephant deaths because it is strongly believed that they died not because of natural causes but because they were killed deliberately by poisoning and hunting," ProFauna Bengkulu Representative Radius Nursidi said here on Friday.
The deaths of the eight elephants during January-July 2011 demonstrated that the Bengkulu Natural Conservation Agency (BKSDA) had not optimally protected Sumatran elephants, according to ProFauna.
"We suspect that there is a systematic effort by certain parties to wipe out elephants from the Seblat PKG," he said.
A number of parties had been wanting to convert the forest area into mining and plantation areas.
"By killing the wild elephants around the PKG area, it will be easier for certain parties to use the forest area," he said.
None of the elephant deaths that were reported to the authorities has been dealt with successfully so far and so there was no deterrent factor, he said.
He hoped the local authorities would soon conduct a thorouhg investigation into the elephant deaths.
According to ProFauna data, there have been 17 elephant deaths since 2004 in areas around the Seblat PKG.
In addition to elephants, the Seblat PKG also shelters Sumatran tigers (Phantera tigris Sumatrae) and Siamang gibbon (Symphalangus syndactylus).
ProFauna suggests that the status of the area be upgraded to a wildlife sanctuary in order to protect and preserve the animals in the forest area.
Conflicts between Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) and humans have increased over the past few years claiming lives among both humans and elephants but mostly among the giant animals.
(SYS/F001)
Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
