Six Indonesian elephants found poisoned to death

Six rare wild elephants were found poisoned to death in an Indonesian jungle today, their mouths black and covered with potassium cyanide, a conservationist said.

Nurkalis Fadli from the World Wildlife Fund said he believed all the animals, which appeared to be from the same family, were intentionally killed.

The only male in the group had its tusks removed.

“This is an extraordinary crime,” Fadli said in Riau province on Sumatra island.

“Whoever did this must have known that Sumatran Elephants are extremely rare and protected by our laws.”

The animals, including one young elephant, were found close together near Mahato, a village 180 miles north of Riau’s capital Pekanbaru.

Fadli said it appeared they had been dead for about a week.