KOTA KINABALU: The cause of death of the juvenile elephant found floating at Kinabatangan river yesterday has not been ascertained even after the post-mortem was completed today.
Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) director Augustine Tuuga said no gunshot wounds were found on the mammal which was a young female aged approximately three years old.
“Post mortem was completed at 2 pm this afternoon.
“No wounds were found on the body, meaning the cause of death was not from gunshot. There was no bullet inside the body.
“We cannot determine the cause of death at the moment ... Samples of vital internal organs were collected for toxicology and bacteriology analyses,” he said in a written reply to NST.
Asked whether the elephant could have died from poisoning, he replied: “No idea until we get the result of the analysis.”
Yesterday, a picture of an elephant’s carcass and two voice recordings went viral via WhatsApp social media application.
Augustine said they were notified about the case by a guide taking tourists at the area, and a team including a veterinarian was sent to the location, reported to be near Danau Girang Field Centre.