The perpetrator who killed a Pygmy elephant with 70 gunshots in Sungai Udin, Dumpas, Kalabakan, near Tawau last Tuesday, will be charged under the Firearms Act 1960.

Tawau district police chief ACP Peter Umbuas said the suspect had committed a major crime in killing a protected mammal, what more with a shotgun.

"He has allegedly committed several offences, including under the Firearms Act. In addition, the suspect can also be charged under the Wildlife Protection Enactment,” he said today.

According to Peter, the suspect is now under the radar of the police and the Wildlife Department (JHL) through Ops Khazanah.

"We have launched Ops Bersepadu Khazanah by mobilising all our enforcement personnel and we have decided on the method that will be used in the near future once we have identified the target," he said adding that the operations would be joined by the Sabah Forestry Department.

Meanwhile, Peter said police had identified the motive and believed the suspect was an elephant hunter based on the missing ivory on the slain elephant.

Peter also urged those with information on the case to come forward and provide information at the nearest police station, or contact Wildlife Department officers to assist in the investigation.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said anyone who could provide information to help arrest the Pygmy elephant killer believed to be aged between 20 and 30 would be rewarded RM30,000.

The reward is RM10,000 each from the Wildlife Department, Orangutan Appeal United Kingdom and a voluntary body.

On Sept 25, a group of anglers discovered the carcass of a pygmy elephant slumped on the banks of the Sungai Udin, Kalabakan near here before pictures of the animal circulated on social media.

Later, the Wildlife Department conducted an investigation and found the elephant’s ivory had been cut and the autopsy found 70 shots in the elephant's cheeks, head, body and back.

- Bernama