Malaysia: Injured pygmy elephant nursed back to health

The Star 3 Jun 19;

KOTA KINABALU: An injured juvenile male pygmy elephant, which villagers thought was dead, is being nursed back to health.

The elephant was found by Perdana Estate workers in Sabah’s central Telupid district on May 22, after which they alerted wildlife rangers.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said rangers went to the site and were surprised to find that the elephant was still alive.

“It turned out that the elephant had a wound on its back that was infested with maggots.

“Our rangers and vets immediately treated the wound as the elephant could not even stand,” he said when contacted.

Tuuga said the elephant was aged between five and seven years and that they were not sure what had caused the injury.

“We don’t know if it was shot as we did not find bullet shells nearby,” he added.

Tuuga said they also tried feeding it but during its first week under their care, it did not want to eat.

“But 11 days into our treatment, it is now responding well and has started to eat,” he said.

He said the elephant was still not able to stand on its own.

“Once it is well and can walk, we will release it back to the wild,” he added.

Borneo Pygmy elephants are critically endangered animals.

It is estimated that there are no more than 1,500 of them left in the world.


Pygmy elephant found injured in oil palm estate being nursed back to health
stephanie lee The Star 2 Jun 19;

KOTA KINABALU: An juvenile pgymy elephant found injured in an oil palm plantation nearly two weeks ago is being treated by wildlife rangers and vets in Sabah's central Telupid district.

The male elephant, believed to be between five and seven years old, was initially thought dead when it was found by estate workers.

"We received information from the workers of Perdana Estate on May 22 and sent our team of rescuers and vet to check," said Sabah Wildlife Department director, Augustine Tuuga.

The elephant turned out to very ill, but still clinging to dear life.


The elephant could not stand and was in quite a bad shape, probably due to bacterial infection from the wound.

"Vets started treating its wound and gave it medication," Tuuga said, adding that they were not sure what caused the injury.

"We don't know if it was shot but we did not find any bullets or traces of gunshots," he said.

He added that they also tried to feed it, but it did not want to eat during the first week or so.

"Eleven days into our treatment, it is now responding to us and has started eating," he said.

Tuuga said the elephant still could not stand, and they were using a harness to help it along and hoped it would recover soon.

"Once it is well and can walk, we will release it back into the wild," he said.

He said they would try to find its herd first, and if this didn't work out, the elephant would be released into a safe area on its own.

Tuuga thanked the estate workers for informing them about the elephant.

Bornean Pgymy elephants are a critically endangered species, and it is estimated that there are no more than 1,500 of them left in the world.