KRISTY INUS and MOHD IZHAM UNNIP ABDULLAH New Straits Times 14 Aug 18;
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s wildlife scene took another hit when a baby elephant was found dead and another injured by snare trap in two separate incidents, yesterday evening.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Christina Liew in revealing this today, said the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) had sent their teams to the ground upon receiving the information.
Cause of death for the young elephant, believed to be around two years old, has yet to be ascertained but no physical injuries were evident, added SWD director Augustine Tuuga during a press conference at the sidelines of the state assembly sitting, here.
“For the first case, a report was received of a male elephant suffering injury on the front leg due to a snare trap near Taliwas, Lahad Datu," Augustine said.
He informed that the information was received late in the the evening yesterday and the department's veterinary team was not able to make it there last night.
“But this morning we despatched them and now they should be there to treat the injury.
“We also received information yesterday of a young elephant found floating at Kinabatangan river in Sukau (by a tour boat) and the body has been secured by the riverbank," he said.
A team was sent to conduct a post-mortem, Augustine said, adding that preliminary checks found no visible physical injuries.
Meanwhile, Liew who is Deputy Chief Minister said they will wait for the post-mortem to learn the cause of death and a statement would be issued once there was more information.
On a separate matter during the press conference, Liew said they were confident of meeting the set target of 3.85 million total arrivals into Sabah this year.
This is supported by more charter flights as well as direct international flights coming to Kota Kinabalu, she added.
As of June this year, arrivals were recorded at 1.891 million which was an increase of 5.3 percent compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister cum State Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Jaujan Sambakong in a separate press conference, said his ministry was currently embarking on a roadshow statewide to address imbalanced development.
He said efforts to streamline development planning would ensure tourism hotspots like Ranau and Kundasang have efficient facilities like organised residential areas and markets.
On another question, he said the level of cleanliness would also be addressed.
“Besides restructuring the development plannings, we want to improve the image of local authorities,” he added.
