https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/08/30/landowners-made-liable-for-elephant-deaths-in-sabah/

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is making landowners responsible for deaths of wildlife, especially elephants, on their properties.

Effective immediately, Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew said the state government will implement a strict liability policy in which landowners will be deemed responsible for the deaths.

She said the rule will also apply to all forest reserves and concessions belonging to Sabah government, such as Sabah Foundation timber concessions as well as smallholders.

She ordered all plantation owners and landowners where wildlife roam to remove all snare traps from their lands immediately or face the consequences.

“We have no choice now but to do this. Some people think that because elephants died on government land, then no action will be taken.

“But from now on, this is not so. This human-elephant conflict has been going on long enough and now it is getting worse.

“It leaves us little choice but to put our foot down,” she said.

Yesterday, the Sabah Wildlife Department reported that 25 elephants have died since January this year, the highest number of deaths it has recorded so far.

The latest was the death of a female elephant in Tongod on Saturday. Wildlife officers believe a baby elephant was also killed at the scene but the carcass was taken away for some reason.

Liew said the Sabah government had decided to hire a foreign expert on elephant protection and conservation to assist the state in solving the increasing problem of elephant deaths.

She said the foreign expert, from Oregon Zoo in the United States, would be part of an advisory council to help ensure better protection of wildlife and manage human-wildlife conflict.

“Once that is done, we will set up a special unit to act on the advice of the council. It is hoped this council will be able to tell us what exactly is the problem that has caused our elephants to die,” she said.

Liew, who is also the state tourism, culture and environment minister, said she had a meeting with the ministry’s permanent secretary and they have decided to invoke Section 33 of the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment.

Under Section 33 of the enactment, any person who commits an offence listed under the law shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine of between RM20,000 and RM100,000 or to imprisonment for a term between six months and five years, or to both.

Under the clause, the director of the Sabah Wildlife Department is given the power to prosecute those found guilty of killing or possessing wildlife without licence.

“We are desperate now because even though we have put up RM120,000 for information and witnesses, nobody has taken up the offer.

“These senseless killings must stop,” she said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shafie Apdal said all the relevant agencies must work together with people living in conflict zones and educate them in tackling problems of elephant intrusion in villages, farms and plantations.

He said he had ordered two state ministers, Liew and Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Junz Wong, to hold meetings with plantation owners in known elephant habitats.

He said these owners or managements must engage their workers to get them to help in the fight against poaching and killings in their areas.

“The plantation workers have shown they are responsible as they have reported unusual activities like stray baby elephants or snared elephants.

“Plantation owners and farmers should also make the effort to remove snare traps placed in their areas by poachers.”

He said elephants in Sabah are totally protected by the law and it is a crime to hurt or kill them.

He urged the people of Sabah to be vigilant and lend their eyes and ears to protect the elephants.

Shafie said although he understands the plight of farmers and planters as they have to protect their land against wildlife foraging in their farms, they had no right to kill them.

“I am aware of the need for forest corridors to link fragmented forests in the east coast of Sabah. I hope we can fast-track this with the help of NGOs.

“I am told that there are only 1,500 to 2,500 elephants left in the wild and they could go extinct in a few decades.”

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