Trial opens against accused elephant poachers in Indonesia

By RISKA MUNAWARAH
Associated Press

CALANG, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian court has begun a trial against a group of men accused of poaching endangered Sumatran elephants and trading in illegal ivory, in a case that wildlife conservation officials have hailed as a milestone. The defendants in the hearing on Monday included nine men accused of killing wild elephants by setting electrified wire traps on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and two others accused of buying ivory from the elephant killings. The charges follow on the discovery by Indonesian authorities of five elephant skeletons in a village of the Aceh Jaya district in January 2020. There are only some 700 wild Sumatran elephants left on the island, but poachers prey on the endangered animals for their valuable tusks.