No leads yet in Kalabakan elephant beheadings - Liew
Christina Liew
KOTA KINABALU (June 19): There have been no takers of the RM10,000 reward offered for information leading to the capture of those responsible for beheading several elephants in Kalabakan, said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew.
'So far, no one has come forward. We have our suspicions, but without solid evidence, we can't charge them in court. We want to charge them, actually. So anything we can do — just to investigate, maybe? We are reaching out to the local community, the kampung people around the area where the elephant was killed,' said Liew.
She added that they are contacting villagers in the area, including the village head and the district police.
'Hopefully, we can work together. We've asked them to call our rescue line at any time so that we can follow the tracks and catch them. But I suspect the kampung people know something — they're just hesitant to come forward,' she alleged.
Liew also said she does not believe the perpetrators are part of a syndicate.
'I don't believe it is. What do they gain? What do they get from killing these elephants? It's not for the organs or anything. There's nothing they got. They just chopped the head off. Very cruel.'
When asked if the government would consider increasing the reward, she replied: 'We can negotiate.'
On whether there have been any recent cases of headless elephants, she said, 'No, no. We hope this will stop. I get seriously angry every time I see something like this happen. It's no good, no good. I'm an animal lover myself — I do not like to see these things.'
She said she has spoken to Wildlife Department director Soffian Abu Bakar, who informed her that despite the department's best efforts, they have not been able to identify the culprits.
'Hopefully, these kinds of incidents will not happen again. I've already instructed the Wildlife Department director that we cannot allow this to go unpunished. We must make sure this never happens again. This is murder — you are murdering the elephant. We do not allow that,' she stressed.
On April 9, Soffian reported that six elephants had been found decapitated in Sabah since July 2024, suspected to be driven by market demand.
'Just in 2024 alone, 32 elephants have been recorded dead due to various causes such as illness, poisoning, suspected murder and shooting, and four of them were beheaded,' he said.
'As of today, two more elephants have been killed the same way — beheaded. That brings the total to six. All these incidents occurred along Kalabakan Road. The most likely reason for these killings, we assume, is ivory,' he added.
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