KOTA KINABALU: Three months and RM500,000 later, authorities have yet to ascertain if there was foul play involved in the death of 14 Borneo Pygmy elephants at a forest reserve in Tawau.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Datuk Dr Laurentius Ambu said the toxin which killed the pachyderms could not be identified due to the decomposed state of the carcasses.
"The result of the histopathological analysis revealed 'caustic intoxicant', or in layman's terms, unidentified toxic poisoning,"he said during a press conference here yesterday.
The samples were sent to several research facilities in Malaysia, Thailand and Australia. The tests were also to detect if the elephants were exposed or infected with any virus, bacteria or other diseases.
He said this process was time-consuming as the biological substances were only sent last month due to strict policies enforced by the Australian and Thai governments.
Laurentius said more results are expected from the two countries by the end of the month.
Besides the laboratory analysis, the department together with Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) and World Wild Fund for Nature-Malaysia had put a satellite collar on an adult female from the same herd.
"This was to track the movement of the herd and to understand what could have happened to the other elephants during the incident in January.
The joint operation will also be conducted on 20 to 30 other elephants from the herd to identify the areas most suited for the preservation of the mammals within the Central Sabah Managed Elephant Range.
Meanwhile, the baby elephant affectionately known as "Joe" whose mother was one of the 14 which was killed, has gained 50 kgs, and looked to have settled in the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park near here.
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