KOTA KINABALU: A bull elephant was found killed in the Felda Umas Oil Palm Plantation near Tawau, from a gunshot wound.
Its carcass was discovered on Friday by the plantation manager, who alerted the district’s Wildlife Department.
Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan said an autopsy on the elephant, aged between 18 and 25 years old, confirmed that it had died from a gunshot.
“When we conducted the post- mortem, we found a bullet or maybe even a slug from a shotgun cartridge lodged in the left lung.”
Sen said the elephant probably suffered for two to four days before dying.
He said the Wildlife Department handed over the bullet to the police for examination and identification.
Department director Datuk Dr Laurentius Ambu said human-elephant conflict in plantation areas, such as Felda Umas, was an ongoing issue.
“We have translocated more than 15 elephants from this area.
“The dead elephant that was killed was one of the few remaining in the vicinity of the plantation, awaiting translocation.”