«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.
