Rare dwarf elephants die in mass

10 endangered dwarf elephants have just been found dead in a protected area in Malaysia. Officials said they were poisoned.

>>>Dwarf elephants are threatened

Over the past 3 weeks, employees at the Gunung Rara nature reserve in Sabah state, Borneo island, Malaysia have found 10 dead Borneo dwarf elephants with the same symptoms of internal bleeding. In particular, there are cases where a 3-month-old elephant was found dead in a posture trying to wake her up.

A dwarf elephant is trying to awaken the dead mother.

Dr. Sen Nathan, head of the reserve's veterinarian, said the dead elephants belong to the same family. Meanwhile, the director of the reserve Laurentius Ambu said: 'We believe that the deaths of these elephants are related. They are still ivory and not hit by bullets so the deaths may not be related to poachers'.

The specimens were sent to the laboratory, according to initial speculation from those found in the digestive system of elephants, the veterinarians here said they had acute poisoning. Test results are aimed at investigating whether elephants are poisoned or accidentally poisoned.

Currently there are about 1,500 Borneo dwarf elephants alive in nature, mainly in Sabah state. They are threatened with extinction due to rampant logging and illegal hunting. This is the world's smallest elephant, has a long tail and straight ivory.