Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

Dr. TanDY

Ipoh SPCA: Go after hunters who shot jumbo

Date: Monday June 26, 2006

IPOH: Mat Chepor, the orphaned 18-month-old elephant, would have been alive if hunters had not shot its mother.

Ipoh Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) secretary Stephanie Yeap said the calf was forced to fend for itself after its mother died of gunshot wounds on May 8.

“I am most upset with the ones who killed the mother.

“What can the authorities do to prevent this from happening? We have to look at the root cause,” she said yesterday.

The calf died on Friday while being transported to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Translocation Unit in Pahang.

Perak Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director Shabrina Mohd Shariff said it was unusual for hunters to shoot female elephants if they were going after the tusks.

She said Perhilitan tried to lodge a police report about the shooting of the mother elephant but was told that no action could be taken.

The department has sent blood and tissue samples of the calf to the Veterinary Research Institute here for tests.

Taiping Zoo director Dr Kevin Lazarus had said the calf likely succumbed to exhaustion, dehydration and a chronic lack of nutrition.