A critically endangered orangutan with gunshot wounds was found dead in the Kinabatangan river on Tuesday.

Three gun pellets were discovered inside the female orangutan’s body and a post-mortem revealed she had died from massive internal bleeding.

Sabah Wildlife Department public relations officer Siti Nur'ain Ampuan Acheh said the department received a report of a carcass of an orangutan that was seen drifting in the river.

She said staff from the Kinabatangan Wildlife Office and Honorary Wildlife Wardens from non-governmental organisation Hutan-Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation then started a search for the carcass.

The search team recovered the carcass the same day about 500 metres from where it was reported to have been seen drifting, she said in a statement today.

Siti Nur'ain said the orangutan estimated to be 30 years old had physical wounds on her abdomen, shoulder and foot.

She added that a police report was lodged and the case was being investigated under Section 25(1) of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 for hunting animals listed in Part 1 of Schedule 1.

She said the department urged anyone with information regarding the case to contact the officer-in-charge of the Kinabatangan Wildlife Office immediately.

- Bernama