Jumbo found dead, another injured
KOTA KINABALU: A postmortem would be conducted on the dead male elephant found in Sukau, Kinabatangan, said State Wildlife Department (SWD) director Augustine Tuuga.
Speaking to reporters at the State Assembly building here yesterday, Augustine said that the elephant’s carcass was found floating in the Kinabatangan River by a tourist boat observing the wildlife there on Monday evening.
“The carcass was secured onto the river bank and a team of vets will be sent to conduct a postmortem to determine the cause of death,” he said, adding that preliminary finding revealed that there was no sign of injuries outside the body.
Augustine also disclosed that the SWD dispatched a team of vets to assist and treat an injured elephant in Taliwas, Lahad Datu.
“On Tuesday I also received a report of a male elephant with injuries on front leg caused by snare trap near Taliwas in Lahad Datu. As the report was received quite late in the evening, we could not send a rescue team immediately to the area.
“The team of vets was dispatched this morning to capture the injured animal and treat the injury,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew who was also present at the press conference, said action must be taken to minimize these unfortunate incidents.
“Augustine said cause of death not determined yet but definitely SWD will be investigating the case. This is beginning to be a very serious issue. We must be able to reach out in our efforts to protect the wildlife.
“We must quickly organize ourselves and do something more to protect the animals,” the Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister said, adding that the cause of death will be made public as soon as they get it.
“There are so many deaths and we need to be transparent about it. We are saddened by the deaths but we are doing our best and we want the public to understand,” she said.