Two rare elephants killed in Indonesia

May 8, 2009, 9:28 GMT

   Jakarta - Suspected poachers killed two endangered elephants on Indonesia's Sumatra island, the state-run Antara news agency reported Friday.

   The Sumatran elephants were found dead without their tusks Thursday in Riau province, Antara said.

   Police were looking for the poachers who are believed to have used cyanide-laced pineapple to kill the animals, said Sahimin, an official at the local nature conservation agency.

   'The killers of the elephants will be brought to justice,' he was quoted as saying by Antara.

   In March, another two Sumatran elephants were killed in Sumatra's Bengkulu province.

   Conservationists said widespread destruction of elephant habitat through illegal logging and uncontrolled conversion of forests into oil palm and pulp plantations has created conflict between humans and elephants, which are forced to feed on the crops that replaced their natural food resources.

   Poaching has also been blamed for the dwindling Sumatran elephant population, the smallest among the Asian elephants.

   The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), a global conservation group, estimates there are only about 3,000 Sumatran elephants left on Sumatra, the only island in Indonesia where they can still be found.

   They are listed as an endangered species and protected by law.