Pregnant Elephant Dies After Eating Pineapple Filled With Explosives

In a horrific incident, a pregnant elephant died after it ate a pineapple stuffed with firecrackers. The incident took place in the Indian state of Kerala on May 27 (Wednesday).

According to authorities, the 15-year-old elephant left the forest area and wandered into a nearby village in search of food. As it walked down the street, someone in the area allegedly offered the animal a pineapple with firecrackers inside it.

However, the cracked exploded in the animal's mouth, gravely injuring its tongue and leaving it with a broken jaw. The elephant walked around the village in extreme pain and hunger as it was unable to eat anything due to the injuries.

Forest Officer Mohan Krishnan from the Rapid Response Team posted about the incident on Facebook along with images of the elephant.

"She trusted everyone. When the pineapple she ate exploded, she must have been shocked not thinking about herself, but about the child she was going to give birth to in 18 to 20 months," he mentioned in the post.

According to authorities, the elephant did not cause trouble or injure any human or property despite the excruciating pain it was in. Instead, it walked up to a nearby river and stood there. Forest officials said the elephant might have done so to avoid attracting flies and insects on the injuries.

"She didn't harm a single human being even when she ran in searing pain in the streets of the village. She didn't crush a single home. This is why I said, she is full of goodness," Krishnan added.

The forest officials attempted to rescue the animal from the river by bringing two captive elephants to the scene. However, after several hours of attempt, the elephant died while standing with its trunk submerged in water.

Forest officials transported the elephant's body back to the forest in a truck and cremated it.

"She needs to be given the farewell she deserves. For that, we took her inside the forest in a lorry. She lay there on firewood, in the land she played and grew up. The doctor who did her post-mortem told me that she was not alone. I could sense his sadness though the expression on his face was not visible due to his mask. We cremated her in a pyre there. We bowed before her and paid our last respects," said the forest officer.

Forest authorities were attempting to identify the culprit. The case was still under investigation.