Sabah Investigates Death of Elephants
Sabah Widlife Department under the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment confirmed that fourteen Bornean pygmy elephants were found dead at Gunung Rara, 130km from Tawau, third largest town in Sabah. The fourteen elephants that died within a span of four weeks were 10 females; 4 males, ranging from 4 years old to 20 years old.
The Sabah Wildlife Department suspects that these elephants came from the same herd. Post mortem was done on all elephants and it was found that their gastrointestinal tract had severe hemorrhages and ulceration with some bleeding from the mouth and anus. There were no gunshot wounds. Sabah Wildlife Dept suspects that the cause of death might be from acute poisoning from something that they had eaten.
The Chief Minister of Sabah has instructed the State Wildlife Department and Forestry Department to immediately and thoroughly investigate the matter. He states that no stones should be left unturned and the culprits will be brought to justice. He acknowledged that people come from all over the world just to catch a glimpse of the elephants. The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah has directed the Sabah Wildlife Department to set up a Joint Task Force involving the Sabah Forestry Department, Sabah Foundation, WWF – Malaysia and Royal Malaysian Police to investigate the matter. He states, “I am just too distraught with this news. There is no word to describe how I feel right now; it is indeed a sad day for conservation and a big loss for us.”
Gunung Rara, a forest concession area under the Sabah Foundation, is a one of the distribution areas for elephant sightings. They are currently between 1,500 – 2,000 elephants in Sabah. The fact that immature elephants are sighted indicates that they are reproducing.
The elephant is currently protected under Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 of Sabah. Anyone found guilty of killing elephants illegally in Sabah is liable to RM10,000 fine or five year’s jail, or both. The State Government has issued an Elephant Action Plan (2012 – 2016) to emphasize the need for immediate, practical and adaptive conservation actions to ensure long-lasting survival of species in Sabah.
Datuk Masidi, the Tourism Minister of Sabah, said the State offers of RM100,000 in reward to anyone who have information leading to the arrests and conviction of individual(s) killing of the elephants is still active.
Sabah Tourism Board
Updated: 1 Mar 2013
