Enough to keep Wildlife Dept busy
Published on: Friday, September 29, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Wildlife Department is faced with having to investigate two incidents – an elephant carcass found floating in the Kinabatangan near Sg Koyah on Monday with its tusks cut out and reports of eight turtle carcases found in Pulau Bum-Bum in Semporna. Its Director Augustine Tuuga said in a statement the discovery was reported by a tourist guide who was with a group of four foreign tourists on a river cruise near Sg. Koyah at around 11am on Sept 25. "The carcass was brought to land where a post mortem was conducted by the department's veterinary officer.
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"The elephant is a male, estimated to be 15-20 years old, believed to have died or been killed three days earlier," he said. He said initial inspection found that both tusks were missing with evidence of clean cut. The left hind limb was also missing with sign of clean cut with sharp object. Part of the skin of the left side of the body was removed with a sharp object.
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The post mortem did not find any evidence of gun shot on the body. It may be possible that the animal was caught in a snare trap that eventually caused it to die of exhaustion.Investigation is now focused on finding the possible area where the elephant died.
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Last year two Borneo pygmy elephants were found dead, believed killed for their tusks. One carcass was found near the Kawag Forest Reserve on Dec 27, and the other just outside the Ulu Segama Forest Reserve on Dec 31.Tuuga said in a statement the investigation into the turtle deaths was done with assistance from Semporna marine police, police, Sabah Park, WWF and Omadal Island Women Association. However, he said, the carcasses were no longer in the area, believed washed away into the sea. Only one carcass was found floating in the sea by the investigating team confirming that the earlier report was true. He said further investigation into coastal villages around the island revealed that the poaching activities had been going on for quite some time. An estimated 100 turtle skeletons were found scattered in the bushes near the beaches of Kg Pantau-Pantau, Kg Amboh-Amboh ang Kg Sampolan. Information gathered so far suggest the poaching activities were carried out by Bajau Lau/Palauh who come to the area occasionally. They do not live in the area but always move by boat," he said. "Some suspects have been identified and investigation is continuing," he added. Previous reports of the discovery of turtle carcasses has been reported off Sabah waters in the past years, among them involved the discovery of 60 turtle carcasses on Pulau Tiga in Kudat made public by a researcher-lecturer in March 2014. Barely a month after that, the carcasses of four more sea turtles were found floating off Semporna, between Bum-Bum and Kulapuan islands within the Tun Sakaran Marine park by a Fisheries Department staff. In SANDAKAN, the Sabah Fishery Department has confirmed that a photo showing a number of sharks without fins in a wet market here that went viral in the social media network is Thresher Shark that is not listed as anendangered species under the Fishery Act 1985.Its Director Dr Ahemad Sade said the long shark species is from Alopias Pelagicus that is listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) 2008 which an international treaty to prevent species from becoming endangered or extinct species due to international trade.In other words, he said the international trade of the species need to be controlled via quota system."Based on the two provisions of both acts, the exploitation of the domestic long shark including fishing and selling is not an offence under the law.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"Looking at the photo that went viral, whole body of the shark has been used and not only the fins that were taken," Dr Ahemad told Daily Express when contacted on Thursday.The photo went viral in the social media network believed happened in a wet market in Sandakan several days ago that made public concern whether such sharks that were caught without the fins fall under endangered species. - Sherell Jeffrey and Mardinah Jikur