KINABATANGAN: The Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) recorded 20 wild elephant deaths in Sabah between January and Oct 8 this year, with continued efforts to strengthen enforcement, monitoring and mitigation measures.
Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said six deaths involved gunshots, one electrocution, five systemic cases, two decomposed carcasses and six other traumatic injuries.
He stressed that not all elephant deaths were linked to poaching or revenge killings, as elephants could also die from natural causes, diseases, injuries and accidents, while deaths suspected to involve non-natural causes would be investigated.
“Cases involving gunshot or bullet marks accounted for about 25 to 30 per cent of the recorded deaths. Any death suspected to involve illegal activity will be investigated,” he said when contacted by the Daily Express on Thursday.
SWD Director Mohd Soffian Abu Bakar said conservation and conflict mitigation efforts were supported through the Federal-funded Biodiversity Patrolling and Protection Programme (BP3), under which 225 Community Rangers had been appointed as Honorary Wildlife Wardens to assist with patrols and wildlife-related incidents, while community and plantation-based elephant control teams were also trained to undertake early mitigation measures.
