News you should read!
Sometimes there are news you must read. The news may not be pleasant but necessary to know and understand. Perhaps even to do something about. Reading about the sufferings of animals may not directly affect you but, it can stir empathy and compassion. A compassion that eventually inspires you to do something……
Tsem Rinpoche
Reuters/REUTERS – A pygmy elephant calf walks next to its dead mother in Gunung Rara Forest Reserve in the Malaysia’s state of Sabah on Borneo island, in this picture taken January 23, 2013 and released to Reuters January 29, 2013. Ten endangered Borneo pygmy elephants have been found mysteriously dead in Malaysia’s state of Sabah on the Borneo island, as reported by Malaysia’s daily The Star. The elephants were believed to have died of poisoning over the last two weeks as puzzled wildlife officials tried to find the cause of their deaths. The first elephant died on December 29 and more continued to be found dead, with the last death on January 24. REUTERS/Sabah Wildlife Department/Handout
13 Pygmy Elephants Found Dead in Malaysia
Malaysian authorities have a possible elephant murder mystery on their hands after three more pygmy elephants reportedly were found dead on the island of Borneo Wednesday (Jan. 30).
The grim discovery brings the death toll to 13 this month, and according to the AP, authorities are investigating suspicions that the diminutive elephants were poisoned.
Also called Bornean elephants, these creatures are the most endangered subspecies of Asian elephant. While other male Asian elephants can grow up to 9.8 feet (3 meters), male Bornean elephants grow to less than 8.2 feet (2.5 meters) and they have bigger ears and rounder bellies, according to the conservation organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Researchers initially believed the babyish-looking mammals were the descendents of captive elephants brought to the island a few centuries ago. Other evidence, however, suggests that the pygmy elephants are a genetically distinct subspecies that arrived thousands of years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch by way of a land bridge. There are thought to be just 1,200 of them in Borneo today, mostly concentrated in Sabah, the Malaysian state at the northeastern corner of the island. [Gallery: The Pygmy Elephants of Borneo]
Though it’s still unclear who or what might be responsible for the recent spate of elephant deaths, WWF officials noted that the population has been increasingly threatened by habitat fragmentation, and all the corpses reportedly have been found in areas where forests are being transformed into plantations within the Gunung Rara reserve in Sabah.
“Conversions result in fragmentation of the forests, which in turn results in loss of natural habitat for elephant herds, thus forcing them to find alternative food and space, putting humans and wildlife in direct conflict,” environmentalist Dato’ Dr Dionysius S K Sharma, executive director of the WWF’s Malaysia division, said in a statement. “All conversion approvals need to be reviewed by the Sabah Forestry Department and assessed not purely from commercial, but the endangered species and landscape ecology perspectives.”
[Source: http://news.yahoo.com/13-pygmy-elephants-found-dead-malaysia-003931885.html]
10 ‘baby faced’ Pygmy elephants poisoned in Malaysia
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/pygmyelephant.mp4
A wildlife official attends to an orphaned three-month-old baby pygmy elephant “Joe” at Lok Kawi Wildlife Park in Kota Kinabalu on February 6, 2013. Malaysian authorities will offer a RM50,000 reward for information on 14 rare Borneo pygmy elephants found dead last month if it is confirmed they were poisoned, officials said on February 6. AFPpic
Malaysia considers reward in dead Borneo elephant case
Wednesday, February
06, 2013 – 16:24
Location: KOTA KINABALU
A wildlife official attends to an orphaned three-month-old baby pygmy elephant “Joe” at Lok Kawi Wildlife Park in Kota Kinabalu on February 6, 2013. Malaysian authorities will offer a RM50,000 reward for information on 14 rare Borneo pygmy elephants found dead last month if it is confirmed they were poisoned, officials said on February 6. AFPpic
MALAYSIAN authorities will offer a RM50,000 reward for information on 14 rare Borneo pygmy elephants found dead last month if it is confirmed they were poisoned, officials said Wednesday.
Sabah tourism, culture and environment minister Datuk Masidi Manjun 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, and officials are trying to save a three-month-old calf, poignantly photographed nuzzling its dead mother and now staying in a wildlife park.
Officials believe the pachyderms — an endangered species — may have been poisoned, possibly by substances left out by workers at nearby plantations to deter them from eating the palm fruit.
Poisoning is suspected due to severe ulceration and bleeding in the animals’ digestive tracts.
Masidi has vowed to push for severe punishment including a stiff jail sentence for anyone found to have maliciously poisoned the animals.
WWF-Malaysia in a statement blamed the deaths on rampant felling of forests by planters, which had forced elephants to find alternative food and space and put them in conflict with humans.
The group says only about 1,200 Borneo pygmy elephants, which are smaller and have more rounded features than full-sized Asian elephants, are estimated to be left in the wild.
The state of Sabah once teemed with wildlife including elephants, orangutan, clouded leopards and a vast array of monkeys and birds.
Pockets of thriving wildlife populations still survive but have been squeezed into ever smaller areas by the expansion of logging and agriculture, particularly the cultivation of oil palms, which produce a profitable edible oil. — AFP
Investigation on elephant deaths to complete soon – police
KOTA KINABALU: No stones are left unturned in investigating the death of 14 Borneo pygmy elephants at Gunung Rara Forest Reserve in Tawau, last month.
State Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib in giving the assurance to the people yesterday, also said they hoped to wrap up the investigation soon.
“I am still waiting for the full report from our office in Kinabatangan, which among others include results from the samples of soil and other items from the location, the type of poison and also the statements taken from villagers and planters in the area,” he said.
According to him, their investigation is framed under Section 429 of the Penal Code, for committing mischief by killing animals. The culprit faces a maximum jail sentence of five years.
“I have directed everyone to give this case a priority … we want to get to the bottom of the issue and hope investigation will be completed soon,” he said when asked on the progress of the investigation after launching Ops Selamat II at Suria Sabah here yesterday.
Meanwhile, Hamza explained that they are still waiting for the chemist report, which is expected to be completed soon.
“If there is any sign of criminal intent, we will not hesitate to take action against those involved and charge them in court.
“For now, we are giving our full focus on the investigation of the case,” he said.
Fourteen carcasses of Pygmy elephants were found middle of last month. The cause of their death is believed due to poisoning.
The WWF wildlife group estimates that fewer than 1,500 Borneo pygmy elephants exist, and they live mainly in Sabah and grow to about eight feet (245 centimeters) tall, a foot or two shorter than mainland Asian elephants.
Known for their babyish faces, large ears and long tails, pygmy elephants were found to be a distinct subspecies only in 2003, after DNA testing.
Their numbers have stabilised in recent years amid conservation efforts to protect their jungle habitats from being torn down for plantations and development projects.
[Source: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/02/05/investigation-on-elephant-deaths-to-complete-soon-police/]
Malaysia seeks help abroad over dead Borneo elephants
Updated: Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:21:40 GMT | By Agence France-Presse
Malaysian authorities said Friday they are seeking help from forensic experts in Thailand and Australia after their own tests failed to establish if 14 rare Borneo pygmy elephants were killed by poison.
The deaths of the endangered animals, found last month in a forest reserve in Sabah state on Borneo island, shocked conservationists and officials, who released a poignant picture of a three-month-old calf nuzzling its dead mother.
Masidi Manjun, state tourism, culture and environment minister, said preliminary results of chemical analysis by government scientists had not provided conclusive evidence on the cause of death.
Wildlife officials would send samples to two forensic testing facilities in Thailand and Australia in an effort to “find any chemical compounds that may have been the cause of the elephants’ death”, he said in a statement.
Officials suspect the elephants may have been poisoned due to severe ulceration and bleeding in their digestive tracts.
Substances left out by workers at nearby plantations to deter them from eating the palm fruit may have been to blame, they believe.
Masidi said that police were conducting “a very thorough investigation involving all possible parties, including plantations and logging companies within the vicinity where the dead elephants were found”.
Malaysian authorities have said they will offer a $16,000 reward for information on the case if it is confirmed the elephants were poisoned, and that the culprits would face stiff penalties.
Officials are still trying to save the calf found with the dead animals, now staying in a wildlife park in Sabah.
WWF-Malaysia says only about 1,200 Borneo pygmy elephants, which are smaller and have more rounded features than full-sized Asian elephants, are estimated to be left in the wild.
Their habitat is shrinking due to logging for timber, oil palm plantations and other development, forcing them to find alternative food and space and putting them in conflict with humans.
[Source: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/malaysia-seeks-help-abroad-over-dead-borneo-elephants-6]
Malaysian jailed over major seizure of tiger parts
Updated: Fri, 08 Feb 2013 08:05:48 GMT | By Agence France-Presse
Activists Friday slammed a two-year jail term handed to a Malaysian man over the country’s biggest seizure of illegally trafficked tiger parts as too short and a “demoralising finale” to the case.
Eight tiger skins, and 22 tiger skulls and bones were discovered at the home of Nor Shahrizam Nasir in northern Malaysia in February last year, as well as nine pieces of African elephant ivory.
A district court in northern Kedah state found Nor Shahrizam guilty Thursday of illegal possession of tiger parts and ivory and he was ordered to serve 24 months in jail, said TRAFFIC, a group that monitors wildlife smuggling.
Malaysian court or wildlife officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
TRAFFIC said it was “shocking” that no fine was imposed even though the law stipulates a mandatory fine of not less than 100,000 ringgit ($32,000).
“The short jail term and the lack of a fine are a demoralising finale to what should have been a victory against wildlife crime,” said TRAFFIC Southeast Asia regional director William Schaedla.
“We hope the lapse does not crush the spirit of those authorities who are still working hard to protect Malaysia’s 500 remaining tigers,” he added.
At the time of the smuggler’s arrest, wildlife officials said the parts were likely destined for Malaysia and neighbouring countries, adding the ivory had been made into key chains.
Activists say the smuggling of endangered wildlife throughout Southeast Asia is extensive, with some animal parts still used in traditional medicines.
They say Malaysia has become a key trans-shipment point for smuggled animal goods, such as ivory.
In December, Malaysian customs officials seized 1,500 elephant tusks hidden in a timber shipment from the west African nation of Togo, the largest haul in the country to date.
[Source: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/malaysian-jailed-over-major-seizure-of-tiger-parts-2]
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Looking at those pictures of elephants paints a thousands words. Sad news……ten endangered pygmy elephants have been found dead in a reserve in Malaysia. Recording to those forest reserve officials, they might have been poisoned . The animals, had all suffered internal bleeding, were found near each other over several weeks at the Forest Reserve. This is indeed sad the death of these severely endangered Bornean elephants is a great loss. Hopefully , the authorities will take more action to stop this happenings.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
I came across this news few years back.So sad…..The death of 14 Borneo pygmy elephants at Gunung Rara Forest Reserve in Tawau, 2013 was really sad.Officials suspect the elephants may have been poisoned.The animals was killed due to some irresponsible,greed and selfish human beings.By now i hope the authorities have done more to prevent any further malicious acts and to protect more animals in the jungle. Animals have their Right to live too.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing….
Human existence is a constant threat to nature, with civilization ever so developing at such a rapid rate it would only cause more animals to lose their homes and most even their lives. I reall ydo hope the authorities get down to the bottom of this as soon as possible preventing any further malicious acts of such cowards. Im suspecting the plantation owners are involved in this some how. Its just such a sad story to hear that the three months old pygmy elephant’s mother is dead and all it could do was mourn over its mother’s body. May the baby pygmy elephant live and grow strong and my the culprits be brought to justice.
Thank you for sharing Rinpoche, I pray for your good health.
This picture of the little calf nuzzling presumbly his/her mummy is really saddening.
I feel that in everything there are always good and bad forces at work. For examples, we have evils v.s. the good. In this case, we have environmentalists and those who want to get rid of these endangered elephants at all costs. There have been much talked about palm tree plantations. Because of the profits, many natural forests are gotten rid of in order to grow more palm trees. And commercial waits for no one, so when forests are cleared, they are usually cleared at the expense of the precious lives of special animals who have long occupied the area, such as Orange Utans.
So humans keep clearing the lands, and at the same time, we continue to lose special animal species. And things go around, we face global warming and a whole of natural disasters which are the results of our human greed.
Very sad. And I feel sorry for those animals who are killed by humans not knowing why even at their last breath.
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It’s so sad to read the news, 14 Borneo pygmy elephants just dropped dead like that due to poisoning because the plantation owners wanted to deter them from eating their palm fruits.I heard from TV news the authorities are giving rewards to find the culprits, and hopefully can put them to jail.
Thank you Rinpoche for the sharing.I have read this article earlier and found those who had poisoned those poor Pygmy Elephant are very cruel and irresponsible. They took the easy way out ,without thinking about the harm they would cause to the animals that habitats in those area which is actually their home.There are alternative methods they could have introduce to prevent those elephants from damaging their crops .But due to cost and reduce of profits ,they chose annihilation over conscience.I do hope they could sleep better now as their problem had been solved!!!
The Pygmy Elephants might be small but the negative karma they created is HUGE.
Oh no,very sad when knew this elephants died of poisoned by someone. That is very suffer when poisoning, may this elephants can take rebirth .
Please save life of animals , they will be end in one day if we continuous hurt them ,eat them and kill them.
Oh my.. those pygmy elephants are so cute… Again humans negligence causing natural habitats suffers…
Joe, a three-month-old Borneo pygmy elephant calf that managed to survive a poisoning that killed 14 members of its herd including its mother and 13 other elephants. Joe was found nudging his dead mother on a path close to a logging operation at Sabah’s forest managment unit in the Gunung Rara forest reserve on Jan. 25, 2013. Wildlife Rangers are reportedly continuing to be checking the forest reserve for more possible dead elephants, while also checking for source of the poisoning, which could possibly be some form of form of suspected chemical pesticides. Yayasan Sabah, Sabah’s largest concession holder, is working closely with International Bodies such bodies such as The Royal Society of United Kingdom, WWF Malaysia, Ikea, Wetlands International and Kyoto University on forest management, environment and Rehabilitation, to look for the source!The elephants deaths have sent shockingwaves across the Globe and must be investigated thoroughly, with the findings be made public!!!
What the sad news to read about. Human being never stop killing animal who are stay together at this planet.14 rare Borneo pygmy elephants were killed by poison. Who will be charge to this criminal?
I ready wish no more killing and any kind of abuse toward the animal. one day we might end up becoming one of them get kill.Negative karma has been planted and will be return back at the future life.
When I came across this news, I feel very sad. I love elephant, seeing they are dying from far away with no connection with me, I feel helpless. Perhaps awaiting the online petition ‘Save the Elephant’ to sign up? Is it enough? Short after the news, I received 2 shocked news on sudden death of my relatives. We have the family connection, but we hardly see each others. I didn’t attend the funeral, but praying/ donation on behalf the deceased, is it enough? I’m not sure, is all come from my pure wishes and hoping they have a good rebirth and near to Dharma in the future. For the people that I care, who are still alive/ family members/ friends…all sentient being, I’m still doing a very preminary practices…and still am slow, not enough still…so I sing “I won’t give up” – Jason Mraz
Gosh, the ‘gotcha’ (Captcha) tooks me >7 times to pump in the comment. 😉
It is such a pity that so many elephants have died together in a short span of time. Conservation of animal and environment is a continuous and collective effort. It is not just one group’s effort nor government’s effort alone. Each one of us, the man on the street can do something about no matter how small it seems. News report of such unfortunate incidents bring to the attention of the masses of what is happening around the country and some of the efforts that have been made to protect the animals and the environments, and what is more to be done. Two things which we can improve on: i) Increase publicity of conservation effort and periodic updates on websites and social media. ii) Increase monitoring to have the information to respond to emergency incidents.
Sad to read the news.. Animals have their Right to live. Why people want to kill?
Best Regards : Eric kksiow 🙁
Dear Rinpoche,
OH MY BUDDHA!!! I just can’t believe that 13 Pygmy Elephants have died in just such a short span of time.
It is really sad news to me and a lot of other people to know of this heartbreaking news, saddest thing is that the baby elephants would be orphans and most of them would also probably suffer a lot because of the lose of a parent/parents and also other sufferings in a orphanage like no freedom etc.
Just heard today that WWF is pointing fingers at palm oil plantations for causing the death because with the lack of good food and forests as well as the huge demand of palm oil more and more elephant habitats are being cut down so that there would be more space to plant Palm Oil Trees and when you have a plantation you have to spray all kinds of chemicals to chase harmful insects away from the plantation and some of the chemicals would land everywhere and they guess the elephants ate poisonous food thus causing them to die.
It is true what Rinpoche said: “Sometimes there are news you must read. The news may not be pleasant but necessary to know and understand. Perhaps even to do something about. Reading about the sufferings of animals may not directly affect you but, it can stir empathy and compassion. A compassion that eventually inspires you to do something……” I totally agree with this.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this sad news.
Love
Jutika
Very thoughtful of you Jutika. I like to read your post because you write like an adult and its mostly quite hard to determine your age through your comment. Perhaps, you would make a very good writer when you grow up. Anyway, I like what you wrote and I think you are pretty sensitive kid and you thought of how the little pygmy elephants would feel when most adult answer here hardly mentioned about how the little elephants would have felt. Its nice and refreshing perspective from you. I always look out for your little comments because you bring out a new and refreshing answer when compared to the others who comment at Rinpoche’s blog posts. Thanks.
It is really shocking and sad to know about the news. How on earth anyone could do such things to poison so many elephants and killing the tigers for their personal gain or maybe ‘pleasure’???!!! It is so cruel!
We have already been taking away their habitual for our “development” so to say. How could we have the heart to kill them some more?? They are also living beings like us! (For info of Pygmy Elephants by WWF: http://worldwildlife.org/species/borneo-pygmy-elephant)
It is indeed sad to know but it is also a calling for us to do more to create the awareness and support to the animals!
Innocent animals are being killed everyday by greedy and inhuman beings. The reward offered to arrest the culprits is good but this does not solve the root problem. When will all these merciless killings end? All for the greed of money, man do not hesitate to kill all kinds of animals. News of such killings needs to be disseminated to the public more aggressively to garner public awareness. Our children needs to be educated from young to develop compassion and ethics so that they do not grow up into unscrupulous adults where the cycle of merciless killings for profits continue to turn.
It is so sad and devastating to read such news. It is so shocking that humans can be so inhumane as to poison the animals for the greed of money. These elephants are an endangered species and we should protect them.
I hope the authorities will find the culprits soon and I feel that stricter penalties must be imposed on this inhumane act.
This is so devastating and shocking.
I’ve read in the newspaper about the death of the 14 pygmy elephants and the arrest of the man in possession of tiger parts and tusks. It truly sickens me to the core that all these are ,once again, caused by man.
I really hope the authorities will arrest the person/persons responsible for the poisoning of the elephants AND impose much much stricter fines and longer prison terms on these murderers. The law is not stringent enough to deter these heinous crimes and man , out of sheer greed and profit will continue committing these crimes . The sentences , if found guilty, should be served consecutively for each animal killed , rather than concurrently.
The man arrested with the 22 tiger parts is only serving 24 months – which works out to be just slightly over a month for each tiger killed, and what about the 9 tusks .
In cases like these , i can say that i am ashamed to be a human being.
It is sad when we humans degenerate to the level of not being able to feel for animals because we see them, not as fellow sentient beings with equal rights to life ,liberty and happiness, but as creatures to be subjugated and used and abused according to our self-centered wants and needs.
The 14 Borneo pygmy elephants , belonging to a rare and dying species, are believed to have been poisoned to death. Officials in Sabah believed that they have been poisoned by “substances left out by workers at nearby plantations to DETER THEM FROM EATING THE (OIL)PALM FRUITS”.
For the greed of man, these poor elephants have been poisoned with a type of poison that had caused much suffering. Death came with much pain as there had been severe lacerations found and signs of severe bleeding in the dead animals’ digestive tracts.
It is painful to see that lives are less important than money and wealth.
Thanks Rinpoche for sharing this news to us.
Every sentient being have the right to live, hopefully the truth will be come out soon.
May everyone be more compassion to all sentient beings…
Such is the ignorance of man that make us do wicked things without counting the cost. There are already so few of them (1200 throughout the country) and yet they were poisoned without as much as a second thought. And all to save some palm fruits. It is quite scary how lives of sentient beings mean nothing to some people and they care more for palm fruits.
Now only do human beings encroach into the natural habitat of these elephants and deny them their space but we also kill them not because they are dangerous but because they are an inconvenience to business. Not only the workers who poison them but also the owners of the plantation/business should be held accountable. Unless there is serious repercussions for the crime, it will not stop.
Reading stories like this makes me wonder at which point we became so callous and insensitive to other life forms. Things like ivory and tiger skins are not necessities but merely luxury items that do not warrant the taking of lives.
What happen to the death of 14 Borneo pygmy elephants at Gunung Rara Forest Reserve in Tawau? I really want to know what was happen to them? How can they die like this? Who give them poison? Who will take responsible for their death?
It’s human fault again or other reason? I feel very sad when I read this post. I feel so upset because I cannot do something to protect them who always faced threaten in their life.Their life is so fragile and same with us, so please work together make KFR growing. Then more sentient being can be protect and bless such as lovely pygmy elephants.
Thank you for Rinpoche share this post to us. It like an awake alarm for me!
This is horrible. Why would people do such things to elephants. They are such kind and gentle animals. I love them, and i love how big and slow they are. So cute. And just knowing that people out there kill these nice animals, makes me very upset. I wish i could have done something to make a difference.
And to know that this happened in Malaysia is even more depressing. I can’t believe that my fellow malaysians would have done such a terrible thing, this all has to stop in Malaysia, i can’t handle to take such bad news.
I do not see any logical reasons to harvest those animals parts or killing those poor helpless animals. All in the name of benefiting our own ‘health’ apparently. I believe that all these claims are part of the self fulfilling prophecy. People will believe anything exotic benefits them. Disgusting!
At the end of the day, there isn’t concrete scientific proof that it works. It is already bad enough to consume animal. But these people takes it a step further by harvesting the parts of wild animals. So sad!
Thank you for sharing, Rinpoche!
I read the news in the papers and it’s not something you want to read about early in the morning. Sad news…
Why would people want to do things like that? I hope the authorities get the culprits if there are. We should be responsible for animals coz they can’t speak for themselves. Share news of all animal abuse and hope that the others will too. Let’s help them have a voice.
Oh dear… This is shocking news! I do not understand why the Malaysian authorities can’t find the cause of death for these poor elephants… Something is amiss here!
Us humans, the supposedly most intelligent by far of all other species on this planet, once again proves that we are the most short sighted of them all. Surely all the deforestation for the sake of development and the economy is such a farce. We are losing our planet… time to wake up!
Weather conditions around the world is in chaos… we are experiencing more blizzards, storms, floods then we ever did. Global warming is no longer an IF, we are going through it right now.
More on what our planet is going through:
http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/current-affairs/water-creeps-onto-land.html
So sad for the endangered animals and its really sad that animal welfare and such awareness in Malaysia is quite low. It is nice that religious leaders take this upon themselves to promote something that is not just about people. Even in Judeo-Christian religions, animals are also creations of God just like ourselves. Therefore, they should be respected and cherished like ourselves. Just because we are smarter doesn’t really give us the license to kill and use them as much as we like.
Saving endangered animals is a noble cause but I think nothing could nobler if we are able to go vegetarian with the thought to put an end to animal suffering. We humans are consuming meat without any conscience of how the meat comes from animals that are brought up in horrible conditions in huge and tight farms and the pain of being slaughtered can scar any child for life. Although a small step but together, a larger vegetarian population can contribute to a movement that will lessen the demand on meat. That would mean fewer animals being slaughtered. Now that is significant.
This is terrifically sad and ever so shaming that it’s happening in our own country. It’s shocking how such negligence can lead to such tragedy. Even sadder is the realisation that perhaps the people behind these chemicals don’t even really care… or that it was just a job to them.
I saw this up on Facebook a few days ago and have shared it (http://www.facebook.com/jpf.khoo/posts/520730647983869) Please everyone share it on yours too and make it viral. We can’t let these people get away with something so horrific and also, we need to put pressure on authorities to make it far more difficult for people to repeat something like this again in the future. Penalties for animal cruelty in this country need to be far, far tougher and implemented much more strictly – if we can let this kind of atrocity happen to what are truly the most native beings of our land, then what does it say about the kind of people we are? What more does it say about what we are capable of doing to every other animal in our country and even, shockingly, to each other?
This is such a sad news to read! WHO on earth would be so irresponsible or so heartless to use chemicals on the land where there are so many creatures. And if you can create negative karma from killing a mosquito imagine the negative karma for killy huge giant animals like elephants!
I hope the culprits will be found soon. In the meantime we should share this news, tweet it, FB it and make it go super viral everyday until they get to find the murderers/culprits. The sharing of this news would also draw attention to seek expert help they require to find out just what exactly killed these giant babies.