KOTA KINABALU: An orang utan was found dead due to massive internal bleeding from gunshots.
Sabah Wildlife department spokesperson Siti Nur’ain Ampuan Acheh said the department was alerted of the incident on Tuesday.
“The Sabah Wildlife Department received a report of a carcass of an orang utan seen drifting in the Kinabatangan River in Sandakan.
“The staff of Kinabatangan Wildlife Office and honorary wildlife warden began a search following the report,” she said in a statement.
The search team recovered the body about 500 metres from its initial location reported on the same day.
“Based on the post mortem result, the female orang utan, aged 30 years, has physical wounds on its abdomen, shoulder and foot.
“Three gun pellets were also discovered inside its body,” she said, adding a police report had been lodged.
The case is being investigated under Section 25 (1) Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 for hunting animals listed in Part 1 Schedule 1.
“We urge anyone with information to contact the officer-in-charge of Kinabatangan Wildlife Office immediately.”
Previously, there was a population of up to 20,000 orang utan in the 1980s and this decreased to 11,000 in 2004.
Ends.