KOTA KINABALU – Former Sabah tourism, culture and environment minister Datuk Christina Liew has called on the police to intensify their investigation into the slaughtering of a young male pygmy elephant in Tongod on Thursday.
In the gruesome discovery, the animal was dismembered and parts of it were found several metres away from its body.
It was later found that the butchered and skinned elephant was shot at least seven times.
Liew said the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 should be amended to impose severe penalties on those convicted of wildlife crimes, to serve as a deterrent to the people.
“I denounce the heartless and despicable act of the killer(s). Whatever the motives could be, we cannot tolerate such gruesome killing of animals.
“We believe in the capabilities of the police and hope they will leave no stone unturned in their relentless efforts to apprehend the suspect(s).
“Given the dwindling elephant population in Sabah, we cannot afford to allow for indiscriminate poaching of elephants,” she said in a statement today.
Liew also urged the relevant authorities to get to the bottom of another two cases involving elephant calves, one in Lahad Datu on Tuesday and another in Kinabatangan on November 22.
In the two cases, poisoning is yet to be ruled out as the cause of death. – The Vibes, January 23, 2021
