Horrifying! Pregnant elephant dies after being fed pineapple stuffed with crackers in Kerala

In a horrific incident, a pregnant elephant was killed after locals allegedly fed her a pineapple stuffed with crackers, in Kerala's Malappuram. An FIR has been lodged against unidentified people under the relevant sections of the Wild Life Protection Act (WPA), confirmed a forest range officer at Mannarkkad.

The incident took place on May 27 while the elephant was standing in water.

"It died standing in river Velliyar after it suffered an injury in its lower jaw," said Wildlife Officer, Silent Valley National Park as quoted by ANI.

The gruesome incident came to limelight when a forest officer in Malappuram district shared the details of the horrific incident on his Facebook page.

Forest officer Mohan Krishnan, who was part of the Rapid Response Team to rescue the elephant, wrote on Facebook in Malayalam, "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." 

As per several news reports, the wild elephant came out of the forest, meandering into a nearby village in search of food. As she walked on the streets, locals offered her the cracker-laden pineapple. The fruit exploded in the pregnant elephant's mouth and she met her tragic end.

Krishnan wrote, "She didn't harm a single human being even when she ran in searing pain in the streets of the village. She didn't crush a single home. This is why I said, she is full of goodness." 

The elephant was seen standing in the river with her mouth and trunk in the water, for some relief from the pain. 

"First, we observed this animal on May 23 when we were informed by locals that an elephant has been roaming around in the private area of the forest. When one of our staff members went to saw the elephant, it was observed that the wound in the lower jaw area was exposed. Later, for at least 24 hours the animal was trying to look for water and on May 24 we received information that the animal has come into river Velliyar," said Wildlife Officer, Silent Valley National Park as reported by ANI.

"Even then the animal did not take any solid matter and only took water. It was very weak so we called a vet, he was of the opinion that it may not be possible to revive back but will see what options are available. Later we were told to observe the animal's behaviour," he added.

The Wildlife Officer said they later planned to take the elephant out of the river but by then she had collapsed.

"Today we thought of taking the animal to a safe spot to examine. Anyway, we had very little hope of reviving the animal because it has not been eating for many days. So, before we could take the animal out of the stream, it had collapsed and we hope it was a peaceful death," he said.

The officer informed that two doctors are here at the spot to carry out the post-mortem and after that, the carcass will be burnt.

"The cause for the death is yet to be discovered and further investigation is underway," he added.