KOTA KINABALU: It’s only 22 days into the new year and Sabah has already lost three endangered Bornean pygmy elephants, with the latest having been shot and butchered.
Those responsible for dismembering the animal had left its tusks at the scene, which has wildlife authorities wondering if this was an act of cruelty rather than poaching.
The sheer brutality of the crime has left wildlife rangers stunned.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said the animal was found at the boundary of the Saicheng Plantation, near Kampung Imbak, in central Sabah’s Tongod district at about 8am on Thursday.
He said half the body had been skinned, while the head – with its tusks still intact – had also been severed and found about 32m away from the body.
KOTA KINABALU: The brutal killing of a Bornean pygmy elephant should be thoroughly investigated by the wildlife authorities and police, says Datuk Christina Liew.
KOTA KINABALU: An elephant was found shot and brutally hacked into several parts in what was the third and most cruel death of an endangered Bornean pygmy elephant in the wilds of Sabah this year.
The tusks were ironically left untouched, leaving wildlife rangers wondering about the motive for the killing, which showed signs of brutality that had never been seen in the previous cases.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said the decomposing half-skinned carcass of the elephant was found on the border of Saicheng Plantation near Kampung Imbak in central Sabah s Tongod district at about 8am on Thursday (Jan 21).