It is the second time in less than two months that a pygmy elephant in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo island has been slaughtered by poachers.

The New Sunday Times newspaper said the carcass of an adult male pygmy elephant was discovered near Lahad Datu on the east coast of the state some 10 days ago. It had been shot dead and its tusks were sawn off.

Police have detained a 19-year-old local and seized a homemade shotgun and a spent shell not far from where the carcass was found, it said.

District Wildlife Officer Stephen Gibin Sira said the elephant was part of a herd of about 40 elephants from the Ulu Segama Forest.

In the earlier incident, which happened in the same district, a male pygmy elephant was shot and killed and its tusks sawn off and hind legs butchered for meat.