Malaysia offers rewards for information leading to arrest of elephant killers
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E-mail Xinhua, February 7, 2013
Malaysian authorities are offering a 50,000-ringgit (16,000 U.S. dollars) reward for information that leads to the arrest of the culprits behind the death of 14 rare pygmy elephants last month if they were confirmed to be poisoned.
Sabah state tourism, culture and environment ministry said on Wednesday it hopes to have new leads with the offer.
Police are already investigating workers of several logging companies.
Ten elephants were found dead on January 29 on the eastern tip of Borneo for suspected poisoning after autopsies showed their intestinal tracts were ruptured.
Three more decomposing bodies were found the next two days.
A three-week-old calf, which was photographed tugging at its dead mother when the carcasses were first discovered, was the only survivor of the group.
Wildlife advocacy groups have said there are only about 1,200 Borneo pygmy elephants, which are plum and have a smaller figure than Asian elephants, alive.
Offenders could be punished up to five years imprisonment under the penal code for mischief towards animals.
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