Estimated population: There are only about 1,500 pygmy elephants left in the wild in Sabah, and this number is steadily declining.
KOTA KINABALU: Ivory poachers may be responsible for the recent decapitation of elephants in Sabah.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Christina Liew said ivory poaching could be the motive, but this could not be confirmed at present.
She was responding to two cases of pygmy elephants that were beheaded in Tawau this year.
A third elephant was found beheaded near Ladang Bukit Tukok in Tawau on Tuesday.
Liew reiterated that Malaysia does not allow the use of ivory as dowry or any similar practices.
She said the ministry will work with the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) to track down the culprits.
She added that SWD is strengthening enforcement on the ground by recruiting 300 rangers for patrols.
There are only around 1,500 wild pygmy elephants in Sabah, and this number is dwindling each year.
“This is alarming, and we are doing all we can to protect these wildlife. We do not want them to end up like the Sumatran rhino, which went extinct in 2019 in Malaysia,” Liew added.
Meanwhile, SWD director Mohd Soffian Abu Bakar believes that a trend of ivory poaching has emerged with such incidents.
He said the department received six reports of such incidents since last year, and all the elephants were killed in the same way.
“Although it is unclear how the elephants were killed, or whether decapitation was the main cause, the rising suspicion is ivory poaching,” he said.
Asked why the animals had to be decapitated, he explained that cutting off the head was faster than removing the tusks from the skull, which could take several hours.
He said there are also suspicions that those who encountered the dead elephants could have harvested the tusks.
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