Endangered pygmy elephant shot dead on Borneo
A pygmy elephant was shot dead on Borneo island after it destroyed villagers' crops, a Malaysian wildlife official said Thursday, the latest of the endangered creatures to be killed.
The male elephant, believed to be about four years old, was found Monday by the side of a road in the state of Sabah, on the Malaysian part of Borneo, local wildlife department director Augustine Tuuga told AFP.
He said the "merciless" killing was carried out near a remote settlement, and authorities were investigating who was responsible.
"(The elephant) was killed out of revenge for destroying crops," he said, adding the crops included palm oil trees.
He said the creature's tusks remained intact, indicating the elephant was not killed by poachers seeking to sell its ivory on the black market.
It was the latest case in Malaysia of human-animal conflict, which happens when human settlements or agricultural plantations expand into a species's natural habitat.
