Overview
- The child, identified as Citra, died on November 3 after three days in a coma following an October 30 encounter near her family’s wooden home in West Rumbai district.
- Local police say the family fled after spotting elephants near the house, and the girl slipped and was trampled as a charging animal from a herd of about 10 came through.
- Riau’s conservation agency (BKSDA) says it is coordinating with police to monitor the herd and asked residents not to act aggressively toward the elephants.
- Conservation groups warn that decades of forest conversion to plantations and industry have pushed critically endangered Sumatran elephants into communities and altered their behavior.
- Cited data indicate roughly 300 elephants remain in Riau after a ~70% decline over 20 years, with more than 200 conflicts recorded across Sumatra since 2021 and fears of retaliatory killings following past violent incidents.