Elephant deaths not due to malnutrition

KOTA KINABALU: Contrary to speculations and allegations, the death of two elephants at Lok Kawi Wildlife Park was not due to malnutrition or poor upkeep, according to the park’s veterinary officer Dr Symphorosa Sipangkui.

He said Gendu, a three-year-old female baby elephant was found dead in the early morning of May 8 and her death came as a shock to the keepers because she was healthy as normal the day before.

Yapid, a 15-year-old male elephant was found dead in the early morning of June 26. He was a ‘disabled’ elephant with stunted growth which was due to his swallowing problem that he was diagnosed with since he was rescued as a baby in 2003.

Speaking to reporters after briefing Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Christina Liew on the cause of deaths here yesterday, Symphorosa said an elephant could survive up to 60 years in captivity.

With Yapid’s case, because of his condition, they did not expect him to live beyond five-years, said Symphorosa but he surprised them by living till he was 15.

“Yapid was rescued in 2003 and that time he was only three months old. He was diagnosed with a condition which made him ‘vomit’ some of his meal every time he ate. He had trouble swallowing and this resulted in his stunted growth.

“He has a chronic gastric problem and post mortem results show haemorrhagic gastritis or ulcer problem. The trachea showed mild grazes due to his regurgitation or vomiting since he cannot completely swallow the food.

“The heart was also enlarged to compensate for his chronic condition. Other organs such as kidneys, lungs and spleen were normal and did not show any changes. The liver was slightly enlarged indicating mild hepatitis,” said Symphorosa, adding that samples were taken for analysis to check for anything that might have further contributed to his death.

Meanwhile in Gendu’s case, the postmortem revealed that there were no abnormalities of most of her internal organs although the liver was slightly enlarged, showing mild hepatitis. The lungs were normal and the heart showed no signs of changes.

The gastro system from the trachea down to the intestines showed mild pinpoint haemorrhage in some areas, indicating systemic problem. Kidneys and spleen also showed no abnormalities, she said.

Symphorosa added that samples had been taken for analysis to determine the cause of death since direct cause of death could not be determined at the time of the post mortem being conducted.

“In the past, there were cases of young elephants’ death caused by Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus or EEHV. It is a highly fatal disease especially for animals born in captivity. It is an acute hemorrhagic disease where the virus attacks the endothelial cells of blood capillaries and victim usually die due to blood loss and shock.

“Gendu was still being cared for by her mother and had started eating solid food at the time of her death. Gendu was born at the Wildlife Park with resident elephant parents named Girl and Boy,” she disclosed.

Symphorosa said there were currently 14 elephants at the Lok Kawi wildlife park where five of them are juveniles and two calves under five years old.

All the elephants at the Wildlife Park are cared for according to best practices for animal husbandry and this includes being dewormed once in every six months.

Some elephants usually get diarrhea or bodily injury when they play with each other in which case they will get prompt treatment, she said adding that each elephant is given food according to their respective weight and they are fed twice a day while the babies are given supplement in their milk by their keepers.

“Utmost care has been given to the elephants in the park but death is inevitable caused by unforeseen circumstances which is very unfortunate but the veterinary officers at the park are doing their best to prevent any death of the animals,” she stressed.

Liew said the ministry would ask the Sabah Wildlife Department to restructure the management of the park in order for the veterinary officers to concentrate on the husbandry management of the animals.

At the moment, the officerin-charge, who is the veterinary officer, is also involved in administrative work of the park. She is also involved in field work such as translocation of wildlife and post mortem cases when the need arise.

Also present at the briefing were Penampang member of parliament Darell Leiking, the ministry’s permanent secretary Datu Rosmadi Sulai and Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga.