Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew said Sabah had agreed to streamline the laws to prevent those involved in such activities from taking advantage of the state’s relative leniency.

“The risks faced by those involved in such crimes are somewhat lighter compared to other states,” Liew, who is also the state tourism, culture and environment minister, said yesterday.

“The state government will wait for the amendments to the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 before amending the state’s Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.”

Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Xavier Jayakumar had earlier urged Sabah and Sarawak to follow Putrajaya’s efforts in amending the act in question, in the wake of the second elephant killing in Sabah in the span of a month.

The elephant, whose tusks were missing, was found dead in a plantation in Beluran with several gunshot wounds on its body. A 20-year-old plantation guard has been detained.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil yesterday offered a reward of RM50,000 for any information leading to the arrest and successful conviction of those involved in the killing.

The palm oil industry watchdog’s CEO Darrel Webber said the reward would be coordinated by the Sabah Wildlife Department.

He said elephant ranges and migration paths in Sabah have been severely affected by development, leading to an increase in human-elephant conflict.

He added that elephant poaching appeared to be on the rise.

He called for better management of the elephant population in Sabah, including a holistic understanding of their population size and growth as well as how to accommodate them.