Close encounter: A screencap of a video showing the elephant rummaging through a worker’s house in Bukit Batu Kalabakan, east coast Tawau.
KOTA KINABALU: An endangered Borneo pygmy elephant calf has been “caught” rummaging through a workers’ quarters in an apparent search for food.
In a video that has gone viral since Friday, the calf was seen attempting to enter the kitchen of the house.
Based on the eight-second video, the mammal is believed to have entered through the open back door of the kitchen, before exiting again when its attempt to enter another door in the room was foiled due to its size.
However, there were no official reports of anyone hurt during the Friday morning incident that is believed to have occurred at farm worker’s house in Bukit Batu Kalabakan, east coast Tawau.
At the time of the incident, the resident was out drying his laundry, said Tawau wildlife rangers.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Mohd Soffian Abu Bakar, who confirmed the incident, said that the Tawau wildlife rangers have been ordered to look into the matter believed to have occurred at the Sabah Softwood Bukit Batu plantation.
The elephant left without causing any damage to the house.
He also urged the public to immediately alert the department if they see the presence of elephants in their area.
In January, a brutally dismembered elephant carcass with its head missing was found along the Kalabakan road, with this case yet to be solved by the Wildlife Department.
A week later a group of adult elephants were found roaming in the workers’ quarters of a plantation.
