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Sad photo shows baby elephant trying to wake up dead mother. First 4 then another 4 found, dead or dieing, thought to be poisoned.

An elephant calf can be seen standing close to its dead mother in Malaysian Borneo on January 29, 2013 (SABAH WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT/AFP, Sabah Wildlife Department)

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10 rare pygmy elephants found dead in Borneo

(AFP)

Dead pygmy elephants are pictured on January 29, 2013 in the Gunung Rara forest reserve in Sabah, Malaysia (SABAH WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT/AFP, Sabah Wildlife Department)

KUALA LUMPUR — Ten endangered pygmy elephants found dead this month are thought to have been poisoned, Malaysian officials said Tuesday as they released poignant photos of a calf nuzzling the body of its mother.

Wildlife authorities in Sabah, a state on the east of Borneo island, have formed a taskforce together with the police and WWF to investigate the deaths.

Laurentius Ambu, Sabah wildlife department director, said it received a report last Wednesday of four dead pygmy elephants in the Gunung Rara forest reserve.

But officials were "shocked" to find another four of the animals, a rare sub-species of the Asian elephant, dead or dying after inspecting the area for two days, he said.

"Early this year, two highly decomposed elephant carcasses were found in the general vicinity of where these eight animals were found. We believe that all the deaths of these elephants are related," he said in a statement. 

Sen Nathan, the department's senior veterinarian, said in the statement "we highly suspect" the animals died due to poisoning after finding severe ulceration and bleeding in their digestive tracts.

(Source: Wikipedia)

"It was actually a very sad sight to see all those dead elephants, especially one of the dead females who had a very young calf of about three months old. The calf was trying to wake the dead mother up," he said.

Masidi Manjun, the state's environment minister, vowed to take tough action if the animals were found to have been deliberately poisoned. 

"If indeed these poor elephants were maliciously poisoned I would personally make sure that the culprits would be brought to justice and pay for their crime," he said in the statement.

There are fewer than 2,000 Borneo pygmy elephants, which are smaller and have more rounded features compared to normal Asian elephants, left in the wild, according to authorities.

Activists warn that pygmy elephants are fast losing their natural habitat to deforestation and human encroachment on Borneo, a vast island shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

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Elephant Vocabulary

Borneo pygmy elephant - a type of elephant that lives in Sabah in northern Borneo that is indigenous to this area (not introduced from the outside), listed as endangered since 1986: the population has declined by at least 50% over the last three generations, estimated to be 60–75 years. The species is pre-eminently threatened by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation" (See Wikipedia)

elephant - (See Wikipedia)

Borneo - "the third largest island in the world and is located in northern Indonesia, the island is divided among three countries: Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. Approximately 73% of the island is Indonesian territory. The Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak in the north occupy about 26% of the island. The sovereign state of Brunei, located on the north coast, comprises about 1% of Borneo's land area. Borneo is home to one of the oldest rainforests in the world" (See Wikipedia)

World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) - an international NGO working on nature conservation, research and restoration of the environment: the world's largest independent conservation organization with over 5 million supporters worldwide, working in more than 100 countries, supporting around 1,300 conservation and environmental projects. WWF is a foundation, in 2010 deriving 57% of funding from individuals and bequests, 17% from government sources (such as the World Bank, DFID, USAID) and 11% from corporations" (See Wikipedia)

vast - extremely large in area, size, amount, etc. กว้างใหญ่, มหาศาล มหึมา
vast island - a very large island
Borneo is a vast island shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

rare - not often seen or found หาได้ยาก
rare pygmy elephants
10 rare pygmy elephants found dead in Borneo

endangered - at risk or in danger of being harmed, damaged or destroyed เป็นอันตราย
endangered pygmy elephants

poison - giving a person a chemical to injure or kill them ยาพิษ,  พิษ
the ten endangered pygmy elephants found dead this month are thought to have been poisoned

released - made available to the public 
poignant - causing or having a particularly sharp feeling of sadness สะเทือนอารมณ์
released poignant photos - allowed the public to see very sad photos of the situation

they released poignant photos of a calf nuzzling the body of its mother.

wildlife - animals living in the jungle
authorities - government officials, police or people in government who have the legal power to make people obey laws  เจ้าหน้าที่ (ตำรวจ หรือผู้มีอำนาจ)
wildlife authorities - government officials in charge of wild animals

taskforce - a group of people working together on a task or to solve a problem
formed a taskforce - created and brought together a group of people to solve a problem
formed a taskforce to investigate the deaths

wildlife authorities in Sabah, a state on the east of Borneo island, have formed a taskforce together with the police and WWF to investigate the deaths.

Laurentius Ambu, Sabah wildlife department director, said it received a report last Wednesday of four dead pygmy elephants in the Gunung Rara forest reserve.

shocked - very surprised
shocked to find the animals dead

species - a set of animals or plants in which the members have similar characteristics to each other and can breed with each other พันธ์,จำพวก
a rare sub-species

But officials were "shocked" to find another four of the animals, a rare sub-species of the Asian elephant, dead or dying after inspecting the area for two days, he said.

decompose  - rotting (a dead body slowly rots and breaks into small pieces and disappears)
highly decomposed

carcass - the dead body of an animal 
decomposed carcass - a dead body that has started to rot and break down

highly decomposed elephant carcasses

vicinity - an area near a particular place บริเวณใกล้เคียง
the general vicinity - roughly in the area around a place
found in the general vicinity

"Early this year, two highly decomposed elephant carcasses were found in the general vicinity of where these eight animals were found. We believe that all the deaths of these elephants are related," he said in a statement. 

veterinarian - a person with a medical degree trained to take care of the health of animals สัตวแพทย์
the department's senior veterinarian

ulcer - a bleeding open sore inside or outside your body
ulceration - the process of an ulcer forming

severe - very serious and worrying ที่รุนแรง ที่น่าเป็นห่วง
severe ulceration

digestive tract - the parts of the body used to take in food and digest it from mouth to stomach to instestines to anus
severe ulceration in the digestive tract

suspect - to believe that something is true, especially something bad เป็นที่สงสัยว่า
we highly suspect ... - we really believe that ...

The department's senior veterinarian said in the statement "we highly suspect" the animals died due to poisoning after finding severe ulceration and bleeding in their digestive tracts."

a very sad sight - a very sad thing to see (something that makes you very sad when you see  it)
it was  a very sad sight to see those dead elephants

calf - a young animal (elehpant, cow, giraffe, whale, etc)
a very young calf of about three months old

"It was actually a very sad sight to see all those dead elephants, especially one of the dead females who had a very young calf of about three months old. The calf was trying to wake the dead mother up," he said.

environment - the natural world of land, sea, plants, and animals
environment minister - the high level government official in charge of the environment

tough - difficult to do or to deal with ยาก ยากลำบาก
take tough action - be serious, not treat lightly (punish severely, for example) 

deliberately - done intentionally; done on purpose, they know what they are doing, not an accident จงใจ ตั้งใจ
deliberately poison the animals 
animals deliberately poisoned

Masidi Manjun, the state's environment minister, vowed to take tough action if the animals were found to have been deliberately poisoned. 

maliciously
maliciously poisoned
these poor elephants were maliciously poisoned

culprits - people who did something wrong, broke the law or did something bad  ผู้กระทำผิด
justice - when people are treated fairly and equally (See Wikipedia) ความยุติธรรม

brought to justice
pay for their crime

personally make sure that
personally make sure that the culprits would be brought to justice and pay for their crime," he said in the statement.

"If indeed these poor elephants were maliciously poisoned I would personally make sure that the culprits would be brought to justice and pay for their crime," he said in the statement.

features -
rounded features
have more rounded features compared to normal Asian elephants
There are fewer than 2,000 Borneo pygmy elephants, which are smaller and have more rounded features compared to normal Asian elephants, left in the wild, according to authorities.

natural - found in nature (not made in a factory by humans) ตามธรรมชาติ
habitat - the type of place that a particular animal usually lives in or a particular plant usually grows in ถิ่นที่อยู่ของพืชหรือสัตว์
natural habitat

deforestation - cutting down lots of trees in the forest
fast losing their natural habitat to deforestation

encroachment - gradually covering more and more of an area of land การบุกรุก
human encroachment on elephant's habitat

Activists warn that pygmy elephants are fast losing their natural habitat to deforestation and human encroachment on