A PREGNANT elephant suffered a torturous death after pranksters fed her a pineapple packed full of lit explosive firecrackers.
Authorities have launched a manhunt for those responsible for the disgusting “prank” in the south Indian state of Kerela.
The heavily pregnant young elephant had wandered into a village on the outskirts of the park.
A villager allegedly offered the elephant a pineapple that was filled with powerful firecrackers, which then exploded in her mouth as she bit into it.
The locally-made firecrackers are normally used to scare off wild animals from crop fields.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Surendrakumar, believes the act was deliberately meant to kill her.
He said: “Her jaw was broken and she was unable to eat after she chewed the pineapple and it exploded. It is certain that she was offered the pineapple filled with crackers to eliminate her.”
Forest officer Mohan Krishnan, who was part of the Rapid Response Team to rescue the elephant wrote an emotional account on Facebook.
He said: “She trusted everyone. When the pineapple she ate exploded, she must have been shocked not thinking about herself, but about the child she was going to give birth to in 18 to 20 months.