Critically endangered elephant rescued from suspected poacher's trap

Upsetting footage shows an elephant calf in Indonesia having to have her trunk partially amputated after it was caught in what authorities allege was a poacher’s trap.

The calf was found caught in a trap on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, authorities said Monday, in the latest setback for a species whose numbers are estimated to have dwindled to fewer than 700.

Rika Marwati, a veterinarian looking after the calf, said she was in critical condition when she arrived for treatment.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has raised the status of the Sumatran elephant from ‘endangered’ to ‘critically endangered’.