Not a week has gone by since Mat Chepor's death, there is now another baby elephant called Mardos dying a slow and painful death at Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary in Lanchang, Pahang. Mardos was found by Perhilitan staff last July in a well in Jemaluang Johor. He was only three months old. It is believed his mother had to leave him because she had no way of getting him out of the well.

But Mardos should have died in the well because he is suffering a much more worse fate at the hands of Perhilitan. The Star report said that following his transfer to Kuala Gandah, tourists complained that this elephant was all skin and bones. Acting on the complaints, Perhilitan transferred Mardos to its headquarters in Cheras and supposedly nursed him back to health over a period of three months, but then sent this poor baby elephant back to the same hell hole he came out of Kuala Gandah.

Why did they not investigate why Mardos was skin and bones in the first place? Now on July 1, as Mardos was being taken to a school in Temerloh for a show, he slipped in the truck and fractured his hind leg near the knees. The report says 'animal transfer protocol was not observed.'

We still don't know what sort of school show this was. Kuala Gandah is a sanctuary, for goodness sake. Not a circus. You don't make elephants perform at a sanctuary. People come to the sanctuary to visit and learn and the elephants are to be given freedom, dignity, respect and love.

To make matters worse, Mardos was taken to the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) veterinary hospital only two days after the accident despite his severe injuries and him being in what must have been excruciating pain. His suffering did not end there. UPM veterinarians claimed his injuries were too difficult to fix and sent him back to Kuala Gandah. This poor baby had to endure the whole painful journey for nothing.

Now he has been sent back to heal on his own. The report quoted a source as saying Mardos' recovery would depend on his resilience to pain. Resilience to pain? How much more pain does Perhilitan intend to inflict on him? He lost his mother at the age of three months. He was adopted by cruel people under whose care Mardos was down to skin and bones apart from being taken out to entertain people. Now UPM and Perhilitan don't even have the decency to put Mardos out of his misery. Can they not just put him down? Has he not suffered enough?

If Mardos' mother knew Perhilitan would rescue him from the well, she would have just dropped a boulder on her baby and killed him to save him from the fate of falling into the hands of the authorities our government have entrusted to look after our wildlife. The report quoted Perhilitan conservation division director Siti Hawa Yatim as saying she was unaware of the case and all her calls to the staff at Kuala Gandah went unanswered.

How dare she say she is able to comment only next week when Mardos is in pain with every minute that passes? Any responsible officer would immediately be on the scene. The Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary should be shut down. Perhilitan must undergo a complete revamp with special emphasis placed on animal welfare and understanding of animal behaviour.

Their management and staff must be given basic lessons on humanity and compassion to stop this terrible exploitation of 'rescued' animals.