This photo shows a three-month old elephant calf trying to wake up its dead mother.
Reminiscent of the Bambi scene that still makes us cry, wildlife officials in Kuala Lumpur said that the mother was probably poisoned.
She was just one of ten endangered Borneo pygmy elephants found dead in a Malaysian forest under mysterious circumstances, NDTV reports.
Carcasses of the baby-faced elephants were found near each other over the past three weeks at the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve, said Laurentius Ambu, director of the wildlife department on Borneo.
In this case, officers rescued a 3-month-old calf that was trying to wake its dead mother.
Officials have not determined whether the poisoning was intentional or not yet. Though some elephants have been killed for their tusks on Sabah in recent years, there was no sign that these animals had been poached.
“This is a very sad day for conservation and Sabah. The death of these majestic and severely endangered Bornean elephants is a great loss to the state,” a statement read.
“If indeed these poor elephants were maliciously poisoned, [we will]…. make sure that the culprits would be brought to justice and pay for their crime.”
The WWF wildlife group estimates that fewer than 1,500 Borneo pygmy elephants exist. The elephants found dead this month were believed to be from the same family group and ranged in age from 4 to 20 years. Seven were females and three were male.
