The elephant found dead in Tongod recently.
RANAU: The Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry (KePKAS) wants stern action to be taken against those responsible for killing a pygmy elephant which was found dismembered in Tongod, Sabah recently.
Its minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said he wanted a detailed investigation to be conducted leading to the arrest and action against those involved.
“We are asking the authorities to identify and bring those involved to justice. This is a serious offence because it involves protected animals.
“We do not want these animals to become extinct if we do not take care of them. My ministry views seriously any crime against protected animals. The Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 will be further streamlined to curb the killing of protected animals in the state,” he told Bernama here today.
Jafry said the community, especially in Sabah, should be aware of their responsibility to preserve nature’s treasures such as pygmy elephants, and the importance of these animals to state’s biodiversity.
On Jan 20, the carcass of a pygmy elephant was found in an oil palm plantation near Kampung Imbak in Tongod. The elephant was believed to have died four or five days before its carcass was found without a trunk and its skin stripped. There were gunshot wounds on the animal’s head.