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.

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"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.”

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.

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Updated at 7:05 a.m. ET: Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon on Saturday at a crowd of up to 25,000 protesters who had converged on the center of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur to demand changes to an electoral system.

Demonstrators also battled with police at a train station nearby, throwing bottles at officers who responded by firing tear gas rounds. 

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Thousands who had been confronting police outside the city's historic Merdeka Square were scattered after riot police fired water cannon and then at least 10 rounds of tear gas into the crowd. The police said they had been forced to react after protesters tried to force their way through barriers and enter the square. 

The violence could carry political risks for Prime Minister Najib Razak if it is seen as unjustified, possibly forcing him to delay elections that must be called by next March but which could be held as early as June. Najib's approval rating tumbled after July last year when police were accused of a heavy handed response to the last major electoral reform rally by the Bersih (Clean) group. 

"They asked the crowd to disperse but did not give enough warning," said Aminah Bakri, 27, with tears streaming down her face from the tear gas exposure. 

Police shut down much of the city center and enforced a court order that the protesters should not enter the symbolically important Merdeka Square.

The Bersih (Clean) group that is leading the protest earlier said it would obey the ban but will march as close as possible to the square, raising the possibility of a repeat of violent clashes that marred Bersih's last major protest in July 2011.

Protesters posted on Twitter claiming to have been hit by the tear gas. 

Photojournalist Jason Lioh posted: "1st hand experience of tear gas. Cried my eyes out & nearly puked myself out. Skins are stinging. Took salt and it helped. #Bersih"

"Now it looks like we will have to fight for our right to gather at Merdeka Square as well as fight for free and fair elections," said Muhammed Hafiz, a 28-year-old store clerk who was preparing to join the protest.

Organizers hoped the protest will draw 100,000 people, including thousands demonstrating against a controversial rare earths plant being built by Australian firm Lynas on the country's east coast. That would make it the biggest protest since the "Reformasi" (Reform) demonstrations in 1998 against then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

A police official estimated the protesters numbered 15,000 to 20,000 by midday with just one arrest reported.

The protest is a delicate challenge for the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak, possibly affecting the timing of elections that he is preparing to call as early as June.

Najib must be mindful of conservatives in his party who are wary that his moves to relax tough security laws and push limited election reforms could threaten their 55-year hold on power.

Malaysia economy "turns the corner"; fiscal reform to be gradual

Last July's rally, more than 10,000-strong, ended in violence when police fired tear gas and water cannons at the yellow-shirted protesters, drawing criticism of a heavy-handed response and sending Najib's popularity sliding. His approval rating has since rebounded to 69 percent, according to one poll.

Police helicopters buzzed overhead on Saturday morning as protesters gathered. Reuters correspondents saw about 200 riot police stationed in the square and five water cannons heading to the site where Malaysia declared independence from Britain.

Bersih, an independent movement whose goals are backed by the opposition, has a history of staging influential rallies as Malaysians have demanded more freedoms and democratic rights in the former British colony that has an authoritarian streak.

The National Front is trying to recover from its worst ever election result in 2008 when it lost its two-thirds majority in parliament, giving the diverse, three-party opposition led by former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim real hope of taking power.

Najib has replaced tough security laws - ending indefinite detention without trial - relaxed some media controls, and pushed reforms to the electoral system that critics have long complained is rigged in the government's favor. A bipartisan parliamentary committee set up by Najib this month issued 22 proposals for electoral reform, including steps to clean up electoral rolls and equal access to media.

However, the government gave no guarantee that any of the steps will be in place for the next election. 

Reuters contributed to this report.

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The Azamara Quest, a luxury cruise adrift off the southern Philippines for 24 hours because of an engine fire, has safely reached a Malaysian port.

The vessel, carrying 600 passengers who are mostly westerners and 411 crew, was stranded at sea flames engulfed one of its engine rooms Friday night.

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It restored propulsion the next night and reached the harbor of Sandakan city in Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah on Borneo island late Sunday.

Police and buses were waiting at the port to take the passengers to a hotel. Five crew members suffered smoke inhalation, including one who was seriously injured.

The Azamara Quest, carrying 600 passengers who are mostly westerners and 411 crew, suffered an engine-room fire on Friday that disabled the engines and left the ship temporarily stranded off the southern Philippines coast.

The fire, the latest in a string of cruise ship accidents across the world, was put out on Saturday although five crew members suffered from smoke inhalation with one requiring serious medical attention.

A U.S. Navy vessel had joined the escort flotilla comprising of several Philippine Navy ships and a coast guard ship, Filipino officials said.

The heightened security comes as the waters off the coast of southern Philippines and northern Sabah are key hunting grounds for pirates and the Abu Sayyaf, a deadly Islamic militant group.

The Abu Sayyaf wants an independent Islamic nation in the south of Roman Catholic Philippines, and has been responsible for high profile kidnappings of westerners, including abducting tourists from a nearby Malaysian resort island in 2000.

Azamara Club Cruises - a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd - said engineers onboard the ship had restored power to one of the ship's engines that allows for some air conditioning, running water and refrigeration.

The rest of the cruise, carrying mainly Americans, Australians and Western Europeans, has been cancelled but some of the passengers were still upbeat.

"This is our first trip on a cruise holiday and after what has happened you would think we would not want to go again but you are so wrong," said Neil Andrew Kirkpatrick who posted on the Azamara Facebook page on Sunday.

"The only discomfort is the heat due to the air-conditioning not working but I can suffer that as I know the engineering department have been working 24/7 to try to get this up and running."

The Azamara Quest was on a 17-night journey and had departed Hong Kong on Monday with port calls to Manila, Balikpapan (Borneo), Palapo (Sulawesi), Benoa Bali, Semarang and Komodo in Indonesia, Malaysia and ending in Singapore.

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KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysian authorities on Sunday deported a young Saudi journalist accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad on Twitter, a police official said. The move came despite concerns from rights groups that he may be persecuted at home.

Jiddah-based newspaper columnist Hamza Kashgari was detained Thursday upon his arrival in Malaysia. Some Saudis have reportedly made death threats against him or called for him to face criminal charges over remarks he tweeted that many considered offensive.

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National police spokesman Ramli Yoosuf told The Associated Press that the 23-year-old Kashgari was handed over to Saudi officials and flown back Sunday morning.

Malaysia is a majority Muslim country with a close affinity with many Middle Eastern nations through their shared religion. The Southeast Asian nation is also a U.S. ally and a leading global voice for moderate Islam, meaning that any decision to extradite Kashgari certain to be controversial.

Blasphemy is a crime punishable by execution under oil-rich Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. It is not a capital crime in Malaysia.

The 23-year-old Kashgari reportedly posted the comments on his Twitter feed to mark the Prophet Mohammad's birthday on Saturday, drawing thousands of outraged comments on Twitter and other social networking sites.

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The comments could not be verified because he later deleted them, but media reported that one them reflected his contradictory views of the Prophet.

'Scapegoat'
Kashgari later said in an interview that he was being made a "scapegoat for a larger conflict" over his comments.

"I view my actions as part of a process toward freedom," Kashgari was quoted as saying in the interview with the Daily Beast website.

"I was demanding my right to practice the most basic human rights - freedom of expression and thought - so nothing was done in vain."

The news of Kashgari's imminent extradition prompted ripples of outrage on Twitter.

"His blood on Malaysia's hands," wrote Mona Eltahawy, a commentator on Arab and Muslim issues.

Others responded with charges of "shameful" and "awful."

Muhammad Afiq Mohamad Nor, a lawyer appointed by Kashgari's family, said Malaysia's move was unlawful because he had obtained a court order to block the deportation. He said he hasn't been informed by police and was still verifying if the Saudi had indeed been sent back.

"We are concerned that he would not face a fair trial back home and that he could face the death penalty if he is charged with apostasy," the lawyer told the AP.

Amnesty International has called Kashgari a "prisoner of conscience" and called for his release.

Human Rights Watch said Saudi clerics have condemned Kashgari as an apostate who must face punishment. The rights group had urged Malaysia to allow him to seek asylum.

Msnbc.com staff, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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MALACCA, Malaysia — A 3-year-old boy was seriously injured in the right thigh when he was attacked by an 83-pound gibbon at the Malacca Zoo, zoo officials said Thursday.

The boy, identified as Afiq Haziq Kamarul, underwent a three-hour operation at Malacca Hospital after the incident, which occurred Tuesday afternoon, the New Straits Times reports.

Read the full story at New Straits Times

Afiq's mother, Anita Sulaiman, told the paper that the gibbon — specifically, a siamang, a tailless variety with black fur — appeared tame and was allowed to move freely among visitors.

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"Suddenly, the group of people who were standing near the gibbon started running away from it and shouted for help," she said.

The gibbon let go only when another visitor kicked its stomach, she said.

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Agence France-Presse reported that the gibbon had earlier bitten a 5-year-old visitor on her right ankle. She also received medical treatment, according to Ahmad Azhar Mohammed, the zoo's director.

Mohammad said zoo officials subsequently caught the gibbon and have quarantined the animal. The zoo is investigating how it jumped out of its enclosure, he said, adding that the animal could have been provoked by the visitors.

A spokesman for the zoo told the Daily News of Malacca that zoo officials had apologized to the family and would help pay Afiq's medical costs.

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