Carcass of elephant with tusks removed found at Tasik Pedu

A group of anglers stumbled upon the carcass of an elephant near the Pedu Lake on May 1 and realised that its tusks had been removed, probably by bounty hunters.

The elephant, yet to be ascertained whether it was a bull or cow, had died about two weeks earlier, according to the anglers who had passed by the Charok Jit area on their way to the angling destination.

This was revealed today by Amir Wahab, secretary of the Tasik Pedu Fishermen, Breeders and Tourism Association cooperative, who came to know of the dead elephant from a staff, Faizuan Abu Hashim, 22, who was the boatman for the anglers.

Amir, 43, said he went to the area at about 3pm and found that the elephant was most probably killed and its tusks cut off in a professional manner.

He said the bounty hunters could have used the illegal jetty in Tasik Pedu to attack the elephant when it emerged from the jungle for water.

"During the current El Nino phenomenon, wild animals such as elephants emerge from the jungle to drink water at the lake," he said.

Fishermen in the area did not harm the wildlife because they focused on catching fish and only used the jetties approved by the local authorities, said Amir who operates a boathouse on Tasik Pedu.

He said he hoped that the state government and the relevant authorities would act against illegal hunters in the lake area.

Kedah Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department director Mohamad Hafid Rohani, when contacted, said a post mortem would be done on the elephant to determine the cause of death.

He said there had been two cases of elephant deaths there several years ago due to their consuming poison.