Rewards in dead elephant case

MALAYSIA: Malaysian authorities will offer a $16,000 reward for information on 14 rare Borneo pygmy elephants found dead last month if it is confirmed they were poisoned, officials said Wednesday.

Masidi Manjun, tourism, culture and environment minister for the state of Sabah on vast Borneo island, told AFP that authorities hoped the reward would help them get new leads.

"There is a reward of 50,000 ringgit for information leading to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of the alleged culprits if the chemist report confirms that death was due to intentional poisoning," he said.

He added in a text message that the report is due to be completed on Friday, about a fortnight after a group of eight elephants were found dead near an oil palm plantation.

Further bodies were later found decomposing in the Gunung Rara forest reserve.

AFP