Malaysian authorities will offer a $16,000 (RM49,520) reward for information on 14 rare Borneo pygmy elephants found dead last month if it is confirmed they were poisoned, officials said Wednesday.
Masidi Manjun, tourism, culture and environment minister for the state of Sabah on vast Borneo island, told AFP that authorities hoped the reward would help them get new leads.
"There is a reward of 50,000 ringgit for information leading to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of the alleged culprits if the chemist report confirms that death was due to intentional poisoning," he said.
He added in a text message that the report is due to be completed on Friday, about a fortnight after a group of eight elephants were found dead near an oil palm plantation.
Further bodies were later found decomposing in the Gunung Rara forest reserve, and officials are trying to save a three-month-old calf, poignantly photographed nuzzling its dead mother and now staying in a wildlife park.
Officials believe the pachyderms -- an endangered species -- may have been poisoned, possibly by substances left out by workers at nearby plantations to deter them from eating the palm fruit.
Poisoning is suspected due to severe ulceration and bleeding in the animals' digestive tracts.
Masidi has vowed to push for severe punishment including a stiff jail sentence for anyone found to have maliciously poisoned the animals.
WWF-Malaysia in a statement blamed the deaths on rampant felling of forests by planters, which had forced elephants to find alternative food and space and put them in conflict with humans.
The group says only about 1,200 Borneo pygmy elephants, which are smaller and have more rounded features than full-sized Asian elephants, are estimated to be left in the wild.
The state of Sabah once teemed with wildlife including elephants, orangutan, clouded leopards and a vast array of monkeys and birds.
Pockets of thriving wildlife populations still survive but have been squeezed into ever smaller areas by the expansion of logging and agriculture, particularly the cultivation of oil palms, which produce a profitable edible oil.
AFP
Wed Feb 06 2013
Hello Kedah platform dekatkan Astro dengan masyarakat setempat
Pengunjung juga tidak melepaskan peluang 'terlibat sama' dalam beberapa aktiviti yang memfokuskan kepada pelbagai lapisan usia.
AWANI Pagi: Jojo sedia harumkan nama Malaysia di pentas dunia
Gelanggang #AWANIPagi akan dikunjungi sensasi Muay Thai, Johan 'Jojo' Ghazali untuk berkongsi perihal langkahnya yang semakin menyinar dalam sukan itu. Jangan ketinggalan saksikan eksklusif di AWANI Pagi 7.30 pagi Sabtu
#AWANInews #AWANIPagi
#AWANInews #AWANIPagi
Ular tedung tercekik botol ubat batuk
Reptilia berkenaan dilihat seperti sukar bernafas dan bergelut untuk mengeluarkan botol dari rahangnya.
PRK Sungai Bakap: Warga emas bersemangat turun undi, bangun 4.30 pagi
Walaupun hanya mengambil masa kira-kira 15 minit untuk sampai ke pusat pengundian, dia keluar lebih awal bagi mengelak kesesakan.
Usaha gencatan senjata, bebas tebusan dapat momentum
Pejabat Netanyahu bagaimanapun memaklumkan, masih terdapat jurang antara kedua-dua pihak.
Siapa wakil rakyat baharu di Sungai Bakap?
Sebanyak sembilan pusat mengundi membabitkan 65 saluran dibuka mulai jam 8 pagi hingga 6 petang sebelum proses penjumlahan undi berlangsung di Dewan Serbaguna Jawi, Taman Desa Jawi bagi tujuan PRK Sungai Bakap ini.
PRK Sungai Bakap: Sembilan pusat mengundi dibuka 8 pagi ini
Proses pengundian hari ini melibatkan 39,151 pengundi yang akan menunaikan tanggungjawab mereka bagi memilih wakil rakyat baharu kawasan itu.
Lima rakyat Palestin terbunuh dalam serangan Israel
Israel mendakwa sedang menjalankan aktiviti memerangi keganasan termasuk serangan udara di Jenin.
Pameran Pendidikan Korea di Kuala Lumpur untuk tarik minat pelajar Malaysia
Pameran itu bertujuan menarik minat pelajar antarabangsa yang cemerlang, dengan menampilkan kelebihan menyambung pengajian di Korea Selatan.
Syor tambah hierarki Mahkamah Syariah - Na'im
Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri (Hal Ehwal Agama) Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar berkata antara yang akan disyorkan termasuk menambah hierarki mahkamah syariah sedia ada kepada empat peringkat berbanding tiga ketika ini iaitu mahkamah rendah, mahkamah tinggi dan mahkamah rayuan.