The pregnant elephant in Kerala was deliberately offered a pineapple stuffed with firecrackers.

The Environment Ministry stated that the elephant may have accidentally eaten a cracker-stuffed coconut which caused injuries leading to her death.

The Environment Ministry stated that the elephant may have accidentally eaten a cracker-stuffed coconut which caused injuries leading to her death.On 27 May 2020, officials of the forest department of Kerala said that a pregnant wild elephant died standing in the river Velliyar at the Palakkad district. Reports claimed that the elephant had sustained injuries after eating a pineapple stuffed with fireworks. The officials first spotted the injured animal on 23 May 2020 and two days later, the elephant was seen standing in the river.

Firecracker-filled fruits are commonly used by villagers In Kerala to protect their fields against wild boars. The practice has been widely condemned and is illegal. On Friday, June 5, the Kerala Forest Department arrested one person for his alleged involvement in the death of the pregnant elephant. Palakkad Superintendent of Police G Siva Vikram told the media that the accused - Wilson - works as a rubber tapper at a plantation in the district.

On June 8, 2020, the Union Ministry of Environment stated that as per the autopsy report the elephant had eaten a coconut and not a pineapple and she may have accidentally eaten the cracker-stuffed fruit. The ministry also said the injuries were at least two weeks old.

Shameer Parakode a member of the volunteer group that monitored the elephant before its death along with forest officials, said Wilson had confessed to the police that he had set up a snare for wild boars inside a coconut on May 12.