Disease killed 6 pygmy elephants in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: The six pygmy elephants found dead between April and May this year died due to disease, said Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew.

Liew, who is also the state tourism, culture and environment minister, said a post-mortem conducted on the carcasses of the elephants did not find any sign of foul play as suspected before.

“There were no gunshot wounds on the elephants and it was concluded they died because of disease,” she said in her winding-up speech at the state assembly today.

However, Liew did not say what kind of disease killed the endangered pygmy elephants.

Earlier, Liew announced her ministry would establish a wildlife protection council to be a platform where wildlife experts could engage with each other to ensure better protection of wildlife and to manage human-wildlife conflicts.

The council, she said, will advise the government on inter-department and inter-agency issues which affect the conservation of wildlife.

These issues include wildlife habitat enrichment in forest reserves, habitat restoration outside protected areas and establishment of wildlife corridors outside protected areas.

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