Orangutan found shot to death in Kinabatangan River

The carcass of the orang utan found in the river.

SANDAKAN (Bernama): An orangutan with gunshot wounds was found dead in the Kinabatangan River on Tuesday.

Three gun pellets were discovered inside the female orangutan's body and a post-mortem revealed that she had died from massive internal bleeding.

Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) public relations officer Siti Nur'ain Ampuan Acheh said they received a report of an Orang utan carcass drifting in the river.

She said staff from the Kinabatangan Wildlife Office and Honorary Wildlife Wardens from non-governmental organisation Hutan-Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation then started a search for the carcass.

The search team recovered the carcass the same day about 500m from where it was sighted, she said in a statement on Thursday.

Siti Nur'ain said the orang utan, estimated to be 30 years' old, had wounds on her abdomen, shoulder and foot.

She added that a police report was lodged and the case was being investigated under Section 25 (1) of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 for hunting animals listed in Part 1 of Schedule 1.

She said the Sabah Wildlife Department urged anyone with information regarding the case to contact the officer-in-charge of the Kinabatangan Wildlife Office immediately. – Bernama