A Sumatran elephant was found with its trunk hacked off earlier this week as authorities suspect it was killed for intruding on residential areas.

The male elephant's carcass was found around 2.15pm on Wednesday in the Riau province of Indonesia.

It was found 2.5 miles away from the Kelayang district office in Indragiri Hulu regency, The Jakarta Post reported.

A Sumatran elephant was found with its trunk hacked off and a mutilated face in the Riau province of Indonesia on Wednesday afternoon

The elephant, regarded as critically endangered, was found with its face severely mutilated and trunk cut off.

Suharyono, the head of Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) in Riau, said: 'The dead elephant ... was separated from its herd in the Tesso Tenggara elephant enclosure.'

The elephant lived in the southeast Tesso elephant area of Riau's Tesso Nilo National Park.

He thought the elephant could have been considered a pest by locals. It entered residential and plantation areas which are part of its home range on multiple occasions and some plants were damaged several times as a result.

It is thought the dead elephant was separated from its herd in the Tesso Tenggara elephant enclosure

Between May 2019 and April 2020 a BKSDA team had tried to drive the elephant back into the forest four times.

The agency has been going on regular attempts to barricade some residential areas since last year. This would keep the elephants away but Suharyono said some villagers haven't been cooperative.

He said the report he received indicated the elephant's head was cut open with a sharp object and some parts of its trunk were scattered around the carcass.

BKSDA Riau launched an investigation of this case with Kelayang District Police and the Special Crime Unit of Riau Police.

They arrived on the scene and are conducting an autopsy into the elephant's death.

Suharyono said: 'The BKSDA strongly condemns the killing. Together with the police, we will find the culprit and bring them to justice.'

WWF estimates the population of Sumatran elephants is between 2,400 and 2,800.

WWF estimates that the population of Sumatran elephants is between 2,400 and 2,800

They are protected under Indonesia's conservation laws but still face serious threats in some places.

Threats to Sumatran elephants include illegal logging, human-wildlife conflict and illegal hunting where poaches kill for the animal's tusks.

Their status was changed from 'Endangered' to 'Critically Endangered' in 2012 after half the population was lost in a generation.

This was largely due to habitat loss and a result of human-elephant conflict, according to WWF.

In November last year a 25-year-old female Sumatran elephant was found allegedly killed by poison in East Aceh regency of Indonesia.

This came after a male elephant was found decapitated with its tusks ripped off in the same week.

A 40-year-old elephant was found dead as a result of a chronic digestive problem in Riau in February this year.