« Her death was shocking … because she looked fine after being amputated and actively moving, » said Rika Marwati, a veterinarian.
A baby elephant whose trunk was partially amputated by rescuers after being caught in a snare trap in Indonesia died Tuesday despite efforts to heal and rehabilitate her, according to officials. Agus Arianto, the head of Aceh province’s conservation agency, said that « we have tried our best, but it can’t be helped either, » the Associated Press reported. « Its trunk was getting rotten and no longer functioning, » Arianto said. The 1-year-old elephant, among the dwindling population of about 700 wild Sumatran elephants on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, was found Sunday in Alue Meuraksa, a village in the Aceh Jaya district, according to conservation officials. She was very weak and still had a snare stuck in her nearly-severed trunk. The amputation of half her trunk was an attempted lifesaving measure by wildlife officials at a training center for elephants near Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, the AP reported.
