Juvenile pygmy elephant found dead with wounds all over body

KOTA KINABALU: 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, believed to be between five and eight years old, was found dead with wounds on its body by estate workers on Thursday (July 19).

Sabah Wildlife Department public relation officer Siti Nur’Ain Ampuan Acheh said a team of investigators were sent to the scene after receiving the report.

“The elephant was found with a severe crack on the left side of its skull, believed to have resulted from fighting with a larger elephant,” she said in a statement Sunday.

She said the injury had caused its death about three or four days before it was found.

Meanwhile, Siti said the other parts of the elephants body and ivory were intact.

She also thanked the estate workers from Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd who alerted them about the elephant.