Dead elephant found with gunshot wounds
KOTA KINABALU: An examination on the body of a dead elephant found gunshots on its head, stomach and waist, Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said.
Some of the buckshot and BB pellets penetrated internal organs of the elephant, he said adding that from the examination, it is believed that the elephant was shot a week earlier.
The elephant is estimated to be 10 years old and measured eight feet high at shoulder height, he said of the elephant found dead in Kinabatangan on Sunday.
According to Augustine, the female elephant that was found dead at Golden Apex Plantation, Kinabatangan, approximately 100 meters from the Malua Forest Reserve boundary, was first noticed by a plantation worker at around 7am on August 4 when he was on this way to work.
The elephant was said to be still alive and lying on its side when first found.
He then informed his plantation manager about the finding in the morning on the next day. The manager inspected the animal but found it already dead. He then went on to inform a Forestry officer at Malua Forest Reserve the next day.
The Forestry officer immediately alerted the Sabah Wildlife Department office in Lahad Datu about the incident, Augustine said adding that the Wildlife Department immediately dispatched officers to investigate and to conduct a post mortem.
An elephant herd was still in the nearby forest at the time of inspection.