Crop raider elephant collared in K'tangan

Daily Express March 23, 2007 Kota Kinabalu: A male elephant, estimated to be 55-60 years of age, was captured and collared in Gomantong Plantation, Lower Kinabatangan, last Sunday before it was released into Lot 6 of Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. This is the second elephant collared using the GSM collar done by the Sabah Wildlife Department and WWF-Malaysia as part of the Bornean Biodiversity and Ecosystems Conservation (BBEC) activities, which advocates sustainable approaches for the conservation of endangered biodiversity and ecosystems in Sabah. The BBEC programme runs five years (ending March 2007), and is implemented by the Sabah Government agencies and Universiti Malaysia Sabah, and assisted by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The programme applies an integrated approach to cover four essential areas, which are Research & Education, Park Management, Habitat Management and Public Awareness. The elephant was believed to be trapped in a small forest patch, Hutan Simpan Pusat Penyelidikan Jabatan Pertanian, during the October 2006 flood, trapping the elephants there the last five months. Senior Manager of Gomantong Sdn Bhd (a TSH group member), Sam Jik Gze, thanked the Sabah Wildlife Department (led by Dr Symphorosa Sipangkui) and WWF-Malaysia (led by Raymond Alfred) for coordinating the capture, satellite-fitting and translocating of the elephant from the said area. To read the full story click on the link in the blog title