TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Riau World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) spokesman Syamsidar said that for the last ten years, there were more than 100 Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) in Riau found dead. The cause of deaths was poisons. "Elephants are considered as pests, so that some residents who live in the forest dealt with them by placing poisons," he said.
According to the WWF's investigation, there were two types of poisons that were often used by those irresponsible people to kill elephants, which were Potassium Cyanide and Zinc Phosphide. The Indonesian Vet Association's Animal Welfare Commission Chief, Wisnu Wardana, said these two types of poisons were deadly substances.
Despite that, there was not one legal action taken against the series of cases, although there was strong evidence on some of the cases to carry out an investigation. Weak law enforcement has become one of the reasons of numerous killings, because there is no punishment on criminals who killed the protected animals. "All of the cases were just dissapeared without any explanation," he said.
RIYAN NOFITRA