BKSDA Sends Laboratory Test Samples Related To Elephant Death In Aceh

The Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) sent samples for laboratory tests to determine the cause of death of the Sumatran elephant (elephas maximus sumatrensis) in the interior of North Aceh Regency.

Head of the Conservation Section Region I BKSDA Aceh Kamarudzaman said the samples taken for laboratory tests were the elephant's impurities and hull fluids.

"The laboratory test is to determine the cause of the elephant's death. The sample tested is only the dirt and fluid of the elephant's stomach. The laboratory test process takes at least one month," Kamarudzaman said as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, March 27.

Previously, residents found the elephant carcass in a plantation area in Jabal Antara Hamlet, Nisam Antara District, North Aceh Regency, on Sunday (24/3/2024). When found, the tusk of the wild animal was no longer there.

Kamarudzaman said the team of doctors from the Aceh BKSDA had gone to the location and carried out a necropsy or surgery of the elephant carcass. From the necropsy results, the vital organs of the protected animal have been autolyzed, so they cannot be used as laboratory test samples.

"So, what can be used as a sample is only dirt and gastric fluids. Meanwhile, vital organs such as the liver, runoff, heart, and others can no longer be examined in the laboratory because they have undergone autolysis," he said.

Kamarudzaman said the elephant's death case is currently under police investigation. The police have also conducted a crime scene investigation.

"We have not been able to convey the exact cause of the elephant's death because we still have to wait for the results of laboratory tests and the results of the police investigation," said Kamarudzaman.

Sumatran elephants are protected wildlife. Referring to the list of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Sumatran elephants are only found on the island of Sumatra with critically endangered species, at high risk of extinction in the wild.

The BKSDA appealed to the community to jointly preserve nature, especially the Sumatran elephant wildlife by not destroying forests that are habitats of various types of animals, and not capturing, injuring, killing.

In addition, it also does not store, own, maintain, transport, and trade protected animals alive or dead and does not install snares or toxins that can cause death.

"All negative acts against protected wildlife can be subject to criminal sanctions in accordance with applicable laws and regulations," said Kamarudzaman.