Did the Pregnant elephant in Kerala really succumb to a pineapple bomb ?

Let’s discuss the elephant in the room.

The barbaric killing of pregnant elephant allegedly by an unidentified person in the Palakkad district of Kerala has triggered widespread fury across the world.

While ‘humans’ now only hold space a word in a dictionary, but are now being addressed as one of the most barbaric creatures alive. Man is not only killing mother Earth every single day but unleashing the most inhuman side to every living being possible. The killing of a pregnant elephant in the Palakkad district of Kerala, is yet another reminder of how selfish the human race can get.

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A genial giant weighing over a thousand tonnes was patiently roaming around the streets of Palakkad, looking for nothing but food for herself and her baby calf. All that she wanted was some food.

What did we give her in return?

A firework disguised as a pineapple!!

Trusting the humans, the pregnant jumbo happily ate the pineapple.

The mother elephant was reportedly fed pineapple bomb, which exploded in its mouth, causing serious injuries to its jaws. Days later she died while standing on the river Velliyar on May 27.

The horrific incident became known to the larger public after it was shared on social media by a forest officer. Forest officer Mohan Krishnan, who shared the photographs on Facebook, narrated the final moments of the elephant going down into the river as if she was taking a “jal samadhi. He said she must have done so to avoid flies and other insects on her injuries.

This is the second death of an elephant in the last two months where a young elephant died of similar injuries in April.

Meanwhile, an FIR has been lodged against unidentified people under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act.

According to a recent parallel development report by International Business Times, India, who spoke to an Indian Forest Service Officer (name removed on request), stated that pineapples filled with firecrackers are used as a trap for catching wild boars. He added that localities used this method commonly to keep away wild boars  from destroying crops, human life and property.

The incident has sparked off widespread condemnation on social media that saw many exuding their emotions on the mother elephant’s death. 

Some of the caricatures that are doing rounds on social media walls well depict the agony of the poor soul and print a silent yet tight slap on human race. 

Photo Courtesy: MohanaKrishnan/Facebook.

The massive brutality also saw celebrities taking to their social media to condemn and mourn for the pregnant elephant killing. 

An incident that shook the world, when on May 31, after a forest official from Palakkad division, Mohan Krishnan’s emotional Facebook post typed in Malayalam went viral, which said, “She had eaten something similar to a pineapple with a firecracker inside.” However, a national media which reportedly picked up the news first from the regional media, allegedly committed two mistakes in its report, which is now said to be replaced. First, it said the location of the incident was Malappuram, the bordering district, and secondly that someone ‘fed’ the elephant with a pineapple stuffed with a firecracker. This created led to a wrong narrative, as the focus shifted to Malappuram from Palakkad, the original place of occurence, with a communal touch, rather than the tragedy of the animal. 

Meanwhile, several national politicians also came to the fore to condemn the act and subsequently calling out the Kerala government.

Although, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has ensured strict against the culprits. Through a Twitter thread, he has said that “Kerala is a society that respects the outrage against injustice. If there is any silver lining in this, it is that we now know that we can make our voices heard against injustice.”

Expressing grief on the false narrative over the elephant’s death he tweeted, “We are saddened by the fact some have used this tragedy to unleash a hate campaign. Lies built upon inaccurate descriptions and half truths were employed to obliterate the truth. Some even tried to import bigotry into the narrative. Wrong priorities.”  

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said three suspects were under the scanner. Post which, according to the latest reports on the incident that created worldwide outrage earlier this week, the state Forest Minister confirmed today that one of the culprits has been arrested, while the investigation to nab the rest is on. 

BJP leader Maneka Gandhi lashed out at the Kerala government for not taking any action. She said Malappuram is India’s most violent district and an elephant is killed every 3 days in Kerala. “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,” she said. 

 Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said, “The crime was so cruel that it has shocked consciences worldwide. I am receiving emails and requests from around the globe to condemn it and punish the evildoers. The outrage is all the more intense because no one ever expected that such a thing would happen to wildlife in Kerala.”

The government has taken “very serious note” of the elephant’s killing, said Mr Javadekar, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in a post. “We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill,” the minister tweeted.

The incident is really disheartening and makes us sick to the core. There have been several animal abuse incidents in India in last few months and unless a strict action is taken against the offenders these abuses and assaults on animals will never stop.

This horrendous act leaves us with more questions than answers about the human race.

The elephant was cremated inside the forest in a sombre ceremony presided over by forest officials. Two lives were lost: the mother and the unborn child. The least we can hope is that those responsible feel the full force of the law.

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