2 Wild Elephants, Fleeing Forest Fires, Stroll Into Indonesian City - AFP

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JAKARTA (AFP) - Two wild elephants, suspected of fleeing forest fires in jungle clad Sumatra island have strolled into a busy Indonesian city and started rummaging for food.

The pair of pachyderms were found calmly munching on trees and bushes on the outskirts of Pekanbaru, a provincial capital on Sumatra island, police said on Thursday.

"The two elephants, both male, are currently in a plot of land in a residential area," said a local policeman who identified himself only as Duplis.

Forestry officials said the wild elephants may having been escaping land clearing in Riau province, where forest fires have been raging for several weeks. "They might have been driven out of their habitat because of the fires. For the moment we will just keep them safe there until a decision is taken," said Uus Suherna, a forest warden at the Nature Conservancy Office.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060831/sc_afp/indonesiaenvironmenthazewildlifeelephants_060831105236