An elephant has trampled its longtime trainer to death at a tourist resort in the Indonesian province of Central Java, local media reported today. According the the dpa, the incident occurred yesterday afternoon at a resort in Tegal district, about 300 kilometres east of Jakarta. Fellow employees at the resort found the body of Koidin, 40, who died of severe head of chest injuries. "We have no idea what caused the elephant to go berserk," the report quoted a local police officer as saying. The elephant and her daughter had worked closely with Koidin for years without incident, the unidentified officer said. The animals had been used to entertain tourists at the hot springs resort. On the neighbouring island of Sumatra, reports have noted a steady rise in cases of wild elephants roaming for food into human settlements, since their habitat has shrunk due to illegal logging and land-clearing for plantation estates. In an attempt to reduce direct conflicts between the wild elephants and humans, dozens of the beasts have been captured since late 1980s to be trained for entertainment purposes. Environmentalists have estimated that as many as 2,500 wild elephants were roaming through Sumatra's jungles. -- SPA
