Pregnant elephant in India dies standing in river soothing pain after villagers fed it pineapple with firecrackers

The elephant did not hurt any people even after she was injured.

Belmont Lay | June 03, 2020, 12:08 PM

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A pregnant wild elephant died in Kerala, India on May 27, standing in the river as it tried to soothe its excruciating agony.

The elephant was allegedly abused by villagers, who fed the trusting animal a pineapple filled with firecrackers, which then exploded in her mouth causing it untold suffering.

Facebook post detailing her death

The incident came to light after a forest officer in northern Kerala's Malappuram district recounted the details of the death on Facebook in Malayalam and provided photos.

The elephant had left the forest and wandered into a nearby village in search of food.

As she walked on the streets, she was offered the firecracker-stuffed pineapple by locals.

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

The explosion caused her tongue and mouth to be badly injured.

The elephant walked around the village in searing pain and hunger, and was unable to eat anything because of her injuries.

But she did not hurt any humans or retaliate.

"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," Krishnan wrote in an emotional note.

Went to river

The elephant eventually walked up to the Velliyar River and stood there, likely in a bid to soothe the pain in her mouth.

Photos showed the elephant standing in the river with her mouth and trunk in water.

The forest officer also said she must have done this to keep her injuries away from flies and other insects.

Rescue attempt

The elephant was discovered by forest officials before she died.

In a bid to rescue her, the forest officials brought two captive elephants, named Surendran and Neelakanthan, to lead the injured elephant out of the river.

"But I think she had a sixth sense. She didn't let us do anything," Mohan Krishnan wrote.

After hours of attempts by the officials to rescue the elephant, she died at 4pm on May 27, standing in the water.

The elephant was taken back inside the forest in a truck, where the forest officials cremated her.

"She needs to be given the farewell she deserves. For that, we took her inside the forest in a lorry. She lay there on firewood, in the land she played and grew up," the forest officer said.

"The doctor who did her post-mortem told me that she was not alone. I could sense his sadness though the expression on his face was not visible due to his mask. We cremated her in a pyre there. We bowed before her and paid our last respects."