Riau - Elephant Flying Squad Tesso Nilo, a collaboration between WWF Indonesia, Riau Natural Resources Conservation Center (BBKSDA) and Tesso Nilo National Park, lost one of its team members, 8-year-old elephant calf Nela.

Nela was found lifeless on May 17 by the mahout who was caring for her. After being reported to the authorities, a joint team of BBKSDA Riau, Tesso Nilo National Park, a designated veterinarian immediately went to the location to conduct an autopsy and gather information to trace the cause of Nela's death. From the process carried out, it is not yet possible to know the exact cause of Nela's death.

Head of Region I of BBKSDA Riau, Johny Lagawurin stated, "I immediately went to the location after receiving the report of Nela's elephant death along with the WWF team and veterinarians from PT RAPP to conduct an autopsy and to comb the scene, but found no signs that lead to the cause of Nela's death."

Johny added, "The team also found no signs of physical trauma or injury on Nela's body and her internal organs looked fine. To confirm the cause of death of this elephant we need to wait for the results of the labor test."

The joint team also took samples of Nela's internal organs for further laboratory analysis at the Bukit Tinggi Veterinary Center. From the results of the toxicology test, the cause of Nela's death has not yet been determined and will still be examined using the tissue culture method.

Syamsuardi, Human-Animal Conflict Mitigation Coordinator said, "We found no changes in behavior or habits prior to Nela's death. There were also no suspicious physical signs when Nela was found dead."

Nela was the first cub of the Flying Squad team born on February 23, 2006 to her mother Lisa. The Flying Squad mahouts suspected that Nela was the result of a mating between Lisa and one of the wild elephants in Tesso Nilo National Park. In her daily life, Nela is known to be a very lively and manageable elephant calf, so she is often the attention of guests visiting the Flying Squad camp.