'She was harmless' - From Sunil Chhetri to Rohit Sharma: Sports fraternity reacts to the cruel killing of pregnant elephant in Kerala

WION Web Team

New Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Jun 04, 2020, 01:46 PM IST

Photograph:(Twitter)

Story highlights

The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Manoj Tiwary, Sunil Chhetri, football club Kerala Blasters, sports fraternity reacted on the death of pregnant elephant as they expressed their sorrow over the saddening incident.

On May 27, a pregnant elephant was fed a pineapple stuffed with crackers after she strayed into a village in Kerala’s Mannarkad in Palakkad district in search of food. The crackers exploded inside the elephant’s mouth and caused severe injuries after which she was unable to eat anything.

In pain, the 15-year-old elephant ran around the village but didn’t cause any damage. She reached the Velliyar River and stood inside the water. The forest department tried their best to rescue the pregnant elephant but she didn’t step out and died while standing there.

The horrific incident triggered a massive outrage on social media with people terming it as a global shame. From sportspersons, actors, musicians, politicians to other popular figures, everyone has expressed their rage and sadness over the incident.

The likes of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Manoj Tiwary, Sunil Chhetri, football club Kerala Blasters, sports fraternity reacted on the death of pregnant elephant as they expressed their sorrow over the saddening incident.

ALSO READ: Virat Kohli reacts to pregnant elephant's horrific death in Kerala, says 'let's treat our animals with love'

“We are savages. Are we not learning? To hear what happened to the elephant in Kerala was heartbreaking. No animal deserves to be treated with cruelty,” the Mumbai batsman tweeted on Thursday.

We are savages. Are we not learning ? To hear what happened to the elephant in Kerala was heartbreaking. No animal deserves to be treated with cruelty.
— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) June 4, 2020

“She was a harmless, pregnant Elephant. That makes the people who did what they did, monsters and I hope so hard that they pay a price. We keep failing nature over and over again. Remind me how we’re the more evolved species?,” wrote Indian football captain Chhetri.

She was a harmless, pregnant Elephant. That makes the people who did what they did, monsters and I hope so hard that they pay a price. We keep failing nature over and over again. Remind me how we’re the more evolved species?
— Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11) June 3, 2020

Another shameful act of Human Cruelty. It takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal.
Severe action must be taken against the culprit by @CMOKerala who fed the cracker filled pineapple to the innocent.

We believed you, You betrayed us#RIPHumanity #AllLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/FRH6cIatDz
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) June 3, 2020

Rest in peace
No words 2 express d cruelty in d way it was done. Strict action shud be taken against d culprits. Authorities need to be taken to task. Our animals, migrant workers, farmers need to be protected because every life matters pic.twitter.com/YDLDmvmS74
— MANOJ TIWARY (@tiwarymanoj) June 3, 2020

The incident in Kerala is extremely saddening. How can we be so cruel? It's time we as a society put an end to these inhumane acts.
— Kuldeep yadav (@imkuldeep18) June 3, 2020

We are hurt to learn about the cold-hearted and cruel gestures by certain individuals on an animal that meant no harm to anyone and unfortunately passed away in excruciating pain because someone thought it was funny to feed crackers to a pregnant #Elephant.

(1/2) pic.twitter.com/7KZAMuDVDj
— K e r a l a B l a s t e r s F C (@KeralaBlasters) June 3, 2020

pic.twitter.com/pq80NwiUNA
— K L Rahul (@klrahul11) June 3, 2020

ALSO READ: Waqar urges Afridi and Gambhir to end social media war

The Kerala government on Wednesday said a wildlife crime investigation team will probe the death of the pregnant elephant while the Centre took a serious note of it. A wildlife crime investigation team from Kozhikode has been dispatched for further investigation.