In India elephant dies of eating firecracker

KOCHI, (India): A pregnant elephant died in India apparently after eating some fruit containing a firecracker that exploded in her mouth, prompting a criminal investigation into suspected cruelty toward animals, forestry officials said on Wednesday.
The incident drew outrage on social media after a forestry officer, Mohan Krishnan, posted an emotional apology to the elephant on May 30 in which he said the animal died from eating a pineapple or another fruit stuffed with a firecracker.
Forestry officials said the incident happened on May 23 in the Palakkad district of Kerala state in southern India, near farmland where locals sometimes scatter fruit spiked with firecrackers to discourage animals from damaging crops. “We only know that the injury (to the elephant) was caused by some explosive substance,” forestry official Sunil Kumar said. The perpetrators, he said, could face animal cruelty charges that could bring fines or even a jail term.–Agencies