Baby elephant loses half its trunk to Indonesia poacher trap

By RISKA MUNAWARAH
Associated Press

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Authorities say a baby elephant in the island of Sumatra has had half of her trunk almost severed off after being caught in what they say was a trap set by poachers who prey on the endangered species. The one-year-old female elephant is among the last of the island’s 700 wild Sumatran elephants. A local conservation official said Monday the elephant calf was found very weak with a snare still embedded in her almost cut-off trunk. Conservationists say that the coronavirus pandemic has led to increased poaching in Sumatra as villagers turn to hunting for economic reasons. Indonesian government data shows the Sumatran elephant population has shrunk from 1,300 in 2014 to 693, down nearly 50% in the past seven years.