Elephant found dead at Lahad Datu plantation
LAHAD DATU: Another elephant was found dead at a plantation here after it was wounded by a snare trap.
Sabah Wildlife Department public relations officer Siti Nur’Ain Ampuan Acheh said the District Wildlife Office was alerted by an oil palm plantation worker about 5.10pm yesterday of the dead male elephant in the Low Woo Thien oil palm plantation area, Ulu Segama.
Siti Nur’Ain said a team of rangers from the Lahad Datu Wildlife Office was immediately dispatched on the same day to the location to check on the report and to collect information on the dead elephant.
On inspection, she said the team had found no criminal signs on the carcass but found the elephant foot wounded by snare trap.
Based on the post-mortem which was conducted by a Veterinary Department officer, the height of the elephant is 5’10” and age between 4-5 years, she said.
“Causes of death due to septicemia from the severely injured leg caused by the wound (exposing the bone) concurrent with severe helminthiasis (gastrointestinal parasites infection),” she added in a statement yesterday.
The number of elephants reported dead has increased in the state, with six carcasses of endangered Bornean pygmy elephants found in the east coast between April 6 and May 20 this year.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga had said that post-mortem results showed the elephants, aged between one and 37, did not die from gunshots.
Some conservationists suspected poisoned waterholes as one of the possible causes of death.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal had directed authorities to get to the bottom of what caused the death of the elephants and work closely to protect local wildlife and forests.