TAWAU, Sept 28 — If investigations into the brutal killing of a Borneo Pygmy elephant found dead in Sungai Udin, Kalabakan recently leads to a criminal case, then serious action must be taken, said Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister, Assafal P. Alian.

"We (the Sabah government) work hard to protect the wildlife and environment, but still this kind of thing happens. Sadder still, the elephant calf was killed, tethered, dumped in the river and had gunshot wounds,” he told reporters while attending the Tropical Rainforest Run 2019 today.

He said the government is upset by this and the individual’s ignorance of efforts to protect endangered species.

He said his ministry is endeavouring to strengthen the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 to put an end to the killing of threatened species in Sabah.

On September 26, fishermen found the female elephant in the river and believed it had died three to four days earlier.

The Sabah Wildlife Department revealed the body was in a sitting position close to the riverbank and had gunshot wounds to the head, body and hind part. — Bernama