Kota Kinabalu: A disturbing rise in elephant decapitations along Sabah’s east coast has triggered an urgent probe by wildlife officials whether it involves ivory poaching.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Christina Liew said six cases were reported since last year, including two recent grim discoveries in Tawau.
Earlier this month, the mutilated carcass of a Bornean pygmy elephant was found in the Tibow-Sapulut area near Tawau. In January, a similar discovery was made along the Kalabakan road.
The recurring incidents have sparked renewed calls among conservationists for stronger enforcement against poaching and other wildlife crimes in the region.
While ivory poaching is suspected, Liew stressed that investigators have yet to obtain conclusive evidence to confirm the motive behind the killings.
She added that Malaysia forbids the use of ivory, including as part of dowries or any other practice. Liew also did not rule out the possibility that the killings occurred due to elephants encroaching on farms and estates.
“We won’t know for sure until the Wildlife Department has conducted a thorough investigation and come up with answers — proof and a suspect to charge,” she said at the launch of the Captive Elephant Management Plan and Borneo Elephant Conservation Symposium at SICC.
Wildlife Department Director Mohd Soffian Abu Bakar said the rising cases point to worrying signs of an emerging poaching pattern.
He noted that removing the head may be a faster method for poachers to retrieve ivory while avoiding detection.
He also noted that in some cases, the elephants may have been killed due to human-wildlife conflict, with opportunists later harvesting the remains.
Liew said people living in areas where the killings occurred might have knowledge of those responsible but are hesitant to speak out.
The Ministry is working with the department to introduce incentive schemes and other measures to encourage informants to come forward.
Among the efforts currently underway are the mid-term review of Sabah’s 10-year wildlife action plan and the recruitment of 300 local rangers to bolster patrols and enforcement. Offenders will face prosecution in court, she added.
With only an estimated 1,500 endangered pygmy elephants remaining in Sabah, conservationists fear the population could decline rapidly if poaching continues unchecked.
“The situation is alarming,” Liew said. “We cannot let these elephants meet the same fate as the Sumatran rhinoceros, which went extinct in Malaysia in 2019.”