Sabah Wildlife Department via AFP - Getty Images

A baby pygmy elephant stands beside a dead adult in the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve in Malaysia's Sabah state.

Ten endangered pygmy elephants have been found dead in suspicious circumstances in Malaysia, according to reports.

Sen Nathan, head veterinarian at the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve in Sabah state on the island of Borneo, said officials "highly suspect" the animals were poisoned, but tests are still to be carried out to determine whether they were deliberately harmed, BBC News reported.

"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, according to the BBC.

Nathan added the elephants, aged between four and 20, were believed to be from the same family group.

Malaysia’s The Star newspaper said the first elephant died on Dec. 29 and the last was found on Jan. 24.

The paper reported that the dead animals were found in an area that it described as an “industrial tree plantation.”

The Star said it was not known how the elephants had died, and noted it was possible they had eaten poisonous plants or pesticides.

The BBC cited Masidi Manjun, environmental minister for the Sabah area, as saying it was “a sad day for conservation and Sabah.”

Sabah Wildlife Department via Reuters

Malaysia's wildlife officials inspect a dead pygmy elephant.

Conservation charity WWF runs an “adopt a pygmy elephant” campaign.

According to its website, the animals are found “only on the northeast tip of the island of Borneo, and inhabit forests near water sources and grasslands. “

“Borneo pygmy elephants are smaller than other Asian elephants, chubbier, and have bigger ears and tails,” it said. “They eat roughly 300 pounds of food daily—mostly roots, grasses, leaves, bananas and sugar cane.”

WWF estimates that there are possibly as low as 1,600 individuals in the wild.

“The top threats to pygmy elephants are habitat loss and conflict with humans,” it added.

Related:

Orphaned elephants find sanctuary in Kenya amid rampant poaching

Constantijn Mennes / Naturalis

An atlas moth shows off its colors during the Sabah Parks / Naturalis expedition to Borneo.

A Dutch-Malaysian expedition to the remote "Heart of Borneo" have turned up more than 160 species previously unknown to science — and perhaps more importantly, enough DNA samples to figure out how more than 1,400 species in one of the world's hottest hot spots for biodiversity are related.

"It has been a successful expedition," the project's leader, Menno Schilthuizen of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, said in a news release from the center, based in the Dutch city of Leiden. Forty researchers from Naturalis and from Sabah Parks, a Malaysian conservation group, journeyed to Borneo's Mount Kinabalu last month to survey the area.

Scientists collected 3,500 DNA samples during the two-week expedition. Back in the lab, Naturalis' biologists will analyze the genetic code to generate family trees for all the collected plants, fungi and animals. A close look at the relationships among the novel species found on Kinabalu, compared with the wider spectrum of species throughout Borneo, could tell researchers whether Kinabalu's species evolved long ago or only recently.

"It's the first time that such an extensive expedition will go to Borneo with evolution as their main focus," Schilthuizen said. "We are following in the footsteps of Alfred Russel Wallace, who formulated a first version of the theory of evolution on Borneo."

Naturalis said spiders and fungi accounted for the largest numbers of new species found on Kinabalu. Other new species included true bugs, beetles, snails, stalk-eyed flies, damselflies, ferns, termites and possibly a frog.

The expedition came across an "El Dorado" for fungi, said József Geml, one of the researchers. "While the plant and animal life of this mountain has been the focus of numerous research projects, Kinabalu has remained terra incognita for scientific studies on fungi," Geml said. "It is difficult not to feel overwhelmed by this task. One of the manifestations of this diversity comes in the endless variety of shapes and colors that sometimes are truly breathtaking."

The researchers expect that the DNA studies will result in a scientific publication about evolution in the Heart of Borneo within a year. In the meantime, feast your eyes on these snapshots from the hot spot:

Joris van Alphen / Naturalis

The expedition to Borneo came across a long-nosed horned frog and other striking species.

Peter Koomen / Naturalis

Researchers came face to face with a jumping spider.

Joris van Alphen / Naturalis

Dutch botanist Frederic Lens collects samples during the expedition to Mount Kinabalu.

Luis Morgado / Naturalis

A striking mushroom known as Entoloma aff. purpurea was found at an altitude of 6,500 feet (2,000 meters).

Luis Morgado / Naturalis

Red mushrooms add a dash of extra color to the forest greenery in the "Heart of Borneo."

More about species:

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• Scientists spot biological beauties in Bali
• RAP stars rock the animal world
• Scientists finish first sea census
• Deep-sea creatures of the Coral Sea
• The top 10 new species from 2010
• Beautiful biodiversity in Brazil
• New Guinea's 'Lost World' revisited
• Indonesia's 'Garden of Eden'
• Papua New Guinea's new species
• Marine marvels from Papua New Guinea
• Biological treasures from Borneo
• Celebrities of the Celebes Sea
• 12 froggy finds from India
• Fantastic frogs from Colombia
• Aliens lurk in Antarctic depths
• More strange species from Suriname
• Vulnerable new species in Brazil
• Discoveries from Vietnam's 'Green Corridor'
• Endangered species of the Mekong Delta
• New species from Australia's coral reefs
• Thousands of new species in ocean's depths
• Hundreds of new species amid the Himalayas
• New species found Down Under ... underground
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Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.