INDONESIA: 70-Year Old Killed as Elephants Run Amok in Lampung Village

. JAKARTA, Indonesia / The Jakarta Globe / April 28, 2009 Bandar Lampung. Two wild elephants ran riot through a village in Lampung Province over the weekend, killing a 70-year-old man, a nature conservation official said on Monday. It was the second such incident in less than two months. Kurnia Rauf, head of the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, said the elephants went on a rampage on Saturday after they were left behind by their herd and strayed into Belimbing Bengkunat village in West Lampung district, killing a man identified as Punirah. Kurnia said the elephant herd was following a seasonal migration path from the national park. Local residents tried to drive the two elephants away but they ran at Punirah. On March 4, an 83-year-old man was crushed to death by a herd of wild elephants in Riau Province. The elephants trampled the man as they thundered through a village in Bengkalis district. “Around 30 rampaging elephants surrounded the man and trampled him until his body was torn to pieces,” a local villager said at the time. Late last month, two tame Sumatran elephants used by rangers to patrol protected forests in Kerinci Seblat National Park were killed by hunters. Wildlife officials said at the time that the elephants appeared to have been killed by professional poachers. Kerinci Seblat National Park covers 13,750 square kilometers in West Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu and South Sumatra provinces. Park rangers ride tame Sumatran elephants while patrolling the park for illegal loggers and poachers. There was speculation that the poachers had been hired by illegal loggers, who have been clearing the country’s rainforests to make way for palm oil plantations. Antara Copyright 2009 The Jakarta Globe