A pregnant female elephant died after eating a fruit filled with crackers in southern India.
These elephants ventured on May 27, and entered a village near the Silent Valley National Park in Kerala, looking for food, but probably ate a pineapple containing crackers that killed it.
"The pineapple fruit bursting with crackers exploded in its mouth, causing serious injuries," said Surendra Kumar, a wildlife protection official in Kerala state.
"We are investigating this incident, and we are trying to determine who is behind it, and the circumstances that led to the animal's death," he added.
Some villagers who live in the area place firecrackers in the fruit to protect their crops from wild animals, or they resort to erecting electric fences to divert the elephants' path from their fields near the forests.
The news of the elephants' death last week sparked outrage in the Indian street, after a forestry official posted it on Facebook.
The elephants, who were seriously injured, roamed the village for hours before entering its hose and mouth in a river in an attempt to keep away the flies and insects that fell on their wounds. I fell hours later.