SANDAKAN – The numerous wild boars found dead in the interior regions of eastern Sabah recently have been determined to be of the same species of wild Bornean bearded pig (Sus barbatus), which is categorised as “vulnerable”.
Despite this classification under the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “red list” of threatened species, limited hunting of the animal is allowed in Sabah.
This is because it is listed under Schedule II of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997, in which a licence can be issued to hunters to hunt the wild bearded pigs.
Sabah Veterinary Services Department (DVS) director Peter Lee said the department is still investigating the cause of deaths of over 30 of the boars in the past eight days.
In a statement today, he said that initial testing showed the samples collected from a bearded pig’s carcass were negative for infectious disease.
“The department is working on several other samples to test for possible poisoning,” he said.
“I would advise everybody not to draw premature assumptions or spread rumours that could create panic among the public.”
Lee said the department had first learned of the case on January 28 during an online meeting with the Sabah Wildlife Department.
He said that DVS had also organised a team with the Wildlife Department and Danau Girang Field Centre to collect samples and investigate when 14 adult bearded pigs were found dead in the Kinabatangan region between December 2020 and January this year.
Earlier today, the Wildlife Department had reported that 34 wild boars had been found in three districts. Of these, 29 were found dead in Kinabatangan, and five in Sugut and Paitan.
“The team obtained samples from several carcasses, including bone marrow samples for polymerase chain reaction tests for diseases and solid feed for toxicology tests,” Lee said.
“However, due to continuous rain and as the area is flood-prone, it was difficult to get samples of live wild bearded pigs from the same area where the carcasses were found,” he said.
Lee said whatever caused the deaths of the wild bearded pigs has not affected domestic pigs that were also in the same area.
However, he said the department did not take any risks and extended its surveillance of the wild bearded pig herds from Kinabatangan to Beluran and Paitan.
This is in accordance with the provisions of the state legislation under Section 26 of the Animal Enactment 2015 which is to determine whether animal diseases are to be blamed for such deaths.
He asked people with information on the case to contact the nearest DVS office. – The Vibes, February 4, 2021
