Identify causes of elephant deaths — Lam Thye

KOTA KINABALU: An animal activist has called for an urgent need to investigate and identify the conclusive causes of the deaths of elephants in Sabah, including the possibility of the animals being poisoned.

Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said it is very disturbing to read about the deaths of Borneo pygmy elephants in the past few months since the exact causes behind more than half of the cases could not be ascertained.

A total of 18 pygmy elephants have died since April with some of them were killed by hunters’ traps or died due to natural causes.

On Monday, the carcass of a juvenile male pygmy elephant was found by wildlife rangers at about 7.40am near Kampung Karamuak, Tongod, some 260km from Kota Kinabalu.

Initial investigations showed that from the position of the injury and the trajectory of the pellet that hit the animal, it was highly probable that the elephant was shot from close range from an elevated position or from the back of a vehicle.

On July 19, a juvenile male pygmy elephant was found dead near an abandoned logging camp outside the Kuamut Forest Reserve in east coast Kinabatangan district.

The elephant, aged between five and eight years old, was found with a severe crack on the left side of its skull, believed to have resulted from fighting with a larger elephant.

It was also reported that the carcasses of six endangered Bornean pygmy elephants, aged between one and 37 years old, were discovered separately in the east coast of Sabah from April 6 to May 20.

The deaths have raised concerns over the wellbeing of the elephants, which number around 2,000 in the wild.

“I also support the Sabah government’s decision to review logging concessions in critical areas where dead pygmy elephants had been discovered.

“Although timber is one of the main sources of revenue for the state government, he said it is important to take such a drastic action for the sake of the endemic species that could not be found elsewhere.

“It is a fact that our wildlife species have been declining, even within protected areas, due to various reasons including poisoning, poaching, uncontrolled logging activities, illegal deforestation and other man-made causes,” Lee said.