Malaysia: Sabah state govt mulls planting food for wild elephants

KOTA KINABALU: The state government is thinking of planting food for elephants in certain protected areas to prevent them from encroaching into plantations.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew said the move could help to reduce human-elephant conflict and prevent the extinction of the species in Sabah.

“Given the loss of habitat, the remaining 2,000-odd elephants need a home so that they don’t encroach into oil palm plantations and risk getting snared, maimed or killed,” she said in a statement.

Liew, who is also Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, said the pygmy elephants are currently concentrated in three areas – Lower Kinabatangan Managed Elephant Range (MER), Tabin MER and Central Sabah MER in the Danum area.

“The aim is to create a sustainable food chain within the three MERs, a new corridor of life for the elephants and avert crop damage in the oil palm plantations and smallholdings,” she said.

An adult elephant can eat 136kg of food comprising grass, roots, fruits and bark a day, and drink up to 150 to 200 litres of water daily.

“Bornean pygmy elephants are a prestige breed and are endemic.

“We are intensifying our efforts to protect the elephants,” Liew said.

She also urged plantation owners and workers not to harm the elephants but to inform the relevant authorities such as Sabah Wildlife Department in the event of any encroachment.

Records showed that a total of 116 elephant deaths were recorded between October 2010 and Sep­tember this year.

Of the figure, 30 elephants have died this year alone with the latest involving a female, aged between 12 and 15 years, at the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve, Tawau, on Oct 18 in a herd fight.

Separately, Sabah Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Junz Wong said political will was needed to solve the problem.

“A special taskforce comprising officials from the ministries and relevant agencies will be set up to look into the plans,” he said.

The Sabah Wildlife Department has been tasked with preparing a paper on the proposed Resolution of the Human-Elephant Conflict in Sabah for submission to the state Cabinet.

Assistant director (Bornean Elephants Conservation Unit) Dr Sen Nathan has been asked to prepare the paper while Sabah Forestry Department has been enlisted in the elephant protection cause.

Sabah mulls growing elephant food in three areas to prevent encroachment
stephanie lee The Star 22 Oct 18;

KOTA KINABALU: The state government is mulling the idea of planting elephant food in certain protected areas to prevent them from encroaching into plantations and risk getting killed.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew, who is also state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, said the move could possible reduce human-elephant conflict and hopefully, prevent extinction of the species in Sabah.

“Given the loss of habitat, the 2,000-odd elephants remaining in Sabah need a 'home' so that they will not encroach into oil-palm plantations and risk getting snared or shot to death,” she said in a statement on Monday (Oct 22).

Liew said the pygmy elephants are currently concentrated in three areas - Lower Kinabatangan Managed Elephant Range (MER), Tabin MER and Central Sabah MER in the Danum area.

“There is a pressing need to grow sufficient food for the elephants in their habitat and for a start, we will consider planting vegetation (grasses and shrubs) in the three areas,” she said.

According to Liew, the three areas would be connected at a later stage of development.

"The aim is to create a sustainable food chain within the three Managed Elephant Ranges, a new corridor of life for the elephants and avert crop damage in the oil-palm plantations and smallholdings,” she said.

An adult elephant can eat 300 pounds (136kg) of food comprising grass, roots, fruits and barks a day, and drink up to 150-200 litres of water daily.

"Bornean pygmy elephants are a 'prestige' breed and are endemic to Borneo. We are intensifying our efforts to protect the elephants and prevent their extinction,” Liew said.

She also called for cooperation of plantation owners and workers in not causing any harm to the animals but to inform the relevant authorities (Sabah Wildlife Department) in the event of any encroachment.

A total of 116 elephant deaths were recorded between October 2010 and September this year.

Of the figure, 30 elephants died this year alone with the latest involving a female aged between 12 and 15 at the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve in Tawau on Oct 18 following a fight with an elephant herd.

The breakdown of the total number of elephant deaths is as follows : 2010 (2), 2011 (6), 2012 (5), 2013 (23), 2014 (6), 2015 (15), 2016 (20), 2017 (9) and 2018 (30).

The number of elephant deaths by district is as follows: Died in
captivity at the Lok kawi wildlife park in Penampang (2), Keningau (1), Tawau/Kalabakan (35), Lahad Datu (30), Kinabatangan (31) and Sandakan/Telupid (17).

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Jumbo dies from wounds despite rescue

Kota Kinabalu: Yet another elephant death occurred in the State - barely after being rescued last week
Sabah Wildlife Department Public Relations Officer Siti Nur Ain Ampuan Acheh said unfortunately the male elephant succumbed to injuries a day after being translocated to the Borneon Elephant Sanctuary ( BES), where he was expected to undergo further treatment for his wound caused by a snare trap.

"The animal was found very weak on Sunday morning, being unable to stand up.

Despite hours of emergency treatment, the animal could not be saved and was confirmed dead at 3pm on the same day.

"A post mortem has been conducted and the cause of death is due to multiple organ failure caused by septicaemia which resulted from the critically deep snare trap wound that was suspected to be more than five weeks old."

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https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/08/401159/dead-baby-elephant-found-floating-kinabatangan-river

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s wildlife scene took another hit when a baby elephant was found dead and another injured by snare trap in two separate incidents, yesterday evening.

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Christina Liew in revealing this today, said the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) had sent their teams to the ground upon receiving the information.

Cause of death for the young elephant, believed to be around two years old, has yet to be ascertained but no physical injuries were evident, added SWD director Augustine Tuuga during a press conference at the sidelines of the state assembly sitting, here.

“For the first case, a report was received of a male elephant suffering injury on the front leg due to a snare trap near Taliwas, Lahad Datu," Augustine said.

He informed that the information was received late in the the evening yesterday and the department's veterinary team was not able to make it there last night.

“But this morning we despatched them and now they should be there to treat the injury.

“We also received information yesterday of a young elephant found floating at Kinabatangan river in Sukau (by a tour boat) and the body has been secured by the riverbank," he said.

A team was sent to conduct a post-mortem, Augustine said, adding that preliminary checks found no visible physical injuries.

Meanwhile, Liew who is Deputy Chief Minister said they will wait for the post-mortem to learn the cause of death and a statement would be issued once there was more information.

On a separate matter during the press conference, Liew said they were confident of meeting the set target of 3.85 million total arrivals into Sabah this year.

This is supported by more charter flights as well as direct international flights coming to Kota Kinabalu, she added.

As of June this year, arrivals were recorded at 1.891 million which was an increase of 5.3 percent compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister cum State Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Jaujan Sambakong in a separate press conference, said his ministry was currently embarking on a roadshow statewide to address imbalanced development.

He said efforts to streamline development planning would ensure tourism hotspots like Ranau and Kundasang have efficient facilities like organised residential areas and markets.

On another question, he said the level of cleanliness would also be addressed.

“Besides restructuring the development plannings, we want to improve the image of local authorities,” he added.

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No info on those behind jumbo deaths despite reward

TELUPID: Despite the reward of RM120,000, no one has come forth with any information on the culprits who caused the deaths of 25 Borneo pygmy elephants in the state this year.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said the reward has been around for the past five years.

“Investigation into the deaths of the 14 elephants in the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve (in 2013) is still not closed.

“We also offered RM20,000 on the killing of the elephant with ‘sabre’ tusks (in 2017) but nobody came forward,” he said.

The bulk of the 25 deaths were discovered in the past four months.

The causes of the deaths ranged from gunshot injuries to wounds incurred from traps set up by hunters and other unknown causes.

Elephants that are injured by trapping devices will develop infections before they die.

WWF Malaysia said that snares are commonly used by poachers along animal trails in forest reserves bordering plantations with the intention of catching wild boars and deer. Though elephants are very rarely the target of poachers, they commonly fall victim to these devices as they use the same trails as other wildlife.

In the latest case, a female elephant was found dead at Ladang Bintang Emas Property Sdn Bhd in Tongod here on Saturday.

SWD public relations officer Siti Nur’ain Ampuan Acheh said the case was reported to the department by the Tongod district forest officer.

“SWD despatched a team of rangers and veterinary officer to investigate and conduct post-mortem on the animal on Monday.

“The carcass was mildly decomposing. It is believed to have died about a week earlier,” she said.

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http://www.theborneopost.com/2018/08/29/more-elephants-killed-by-snares-wwf/

KOTA KINABALU: Despite actions taken by the enforcement authorities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to end the continuous elephant deaths in Sabah, the fact of the matter is that more and more elephants are dying on our watch.

Just last week, WWF-Malaysia said there was yet another elephant death, this time due to a severe snare wound that led to septicaemia and eventually multiple organ failures.

The death of this jumbo joins at least 25 other elephant deaths since the beginning of this year.

WWF-Malaysia said even more worrisome than the number of elephant deaths are the number of elephants that have died due to strategically placed snare traps within their habitat.

In the past two months, WWF-Malaysia four elephants have died due to snare related injuries. These were all male elephants aged between one to nine years old. All four elephants were found at plantations surrounding the Sg Taliwas Forest Reserve and Sapagaya Forest Reserve.

According to WWF-Malaysia in a statement yesterday, snares are commonly used by poachers, where they are placed along animal trails in forest reserves bordering plantations with the intention of catching wild boars and deer.

Though elephants are very rarely the target of poachers, they commonly fall victim to these devices. This is because elephants use the same trails as other wildlife causing them to become a product of bycatch since snares indiscriminately kill wildlife.

If not treated early, snare wounds causes a slow and painful death for the animal as they lead to severe infection.

WWF-Malaysia together with the Sabah Forestry Department and the Sabah Wildlife Department have continuously worked together to conduct joint anti-snaring operations (Ops Jerat) to remove snares in the forest reserves that are bordering plantations.

As of now, five operations have been carried out and through these operations, 25 snares were found in forest reserves. Sixteen hunting platforms were also discovered in both forest reserves and surrounding plantations, and five pitfall traps that measured about seven feet deep were found in these plantations.

WWF-Malaysia said it will continue its Ops Jerat in collaboration with the government particularly in identified poaching hot spots.

Currently, the Sabah Wildlife Department is investigating known suspects and has raided their quarters in search for incriminating evidences.

The organisation added it had previously called for the amendment of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 to include a strict liability provision for private landowners to be held accountable and would have to prove their innocence should a death of an elephant occur on their land or evidence of illegal activities such as snares, hunting platforms and pitfall traps are found in their area. Through this provision, the burden of proof will be reversed, which would mean that it no longer lies with the prosecutors.

It reiterates its call for the amendment and strongly urges the government to look into the matter urgently. It recognises that this provision has several loopholes that needs to be addressed before it can be implemented.

With this in mind, WWF-Malaysia is open to working together with the government to address them. The organisation suggests holding stakeholder consultations with plantations first in order to allow them to voice their concerns and also provide their recommendations.

WWF-Malaysia said the time has come for someone to shoulder the responsibility for the death of elephants, especially those occurring on their land.

In order to stop the premature deaths of one of Borneo’s most iconic species, it said strong actions must be taken and they must be taken now. Plantations cannot afford to ignore poaching activities that happen within their land or the land surrounding them simply because they are not participatory to it.

Under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997, the Borneo elephants are totally protected species, where the harming or killing of elephant, whether intentional or otherwise, is punishable by law.

WWF-Malaysia urges plantations to play an active part alongside the government and NGOs in the conservation of elephants in Sabah. Plantation owners and workers can play a significant role by being more vigilant and reporting any suspicious activities to the Sabah Forestry Department and Sabah Wildlife Department.

“The truth of the matter is that elephants will use plantation landscapes and therefore plantations need to accept that they have to coexist with these animals. If we are not careful, within our lifetime, we could see the complete loss of Borneo elephants in Sabah,” added the organisation.

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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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Malaysia investigates the deaths of dozens of rare Rare Elephants in Saba

- Authorities of Malaysia are investigating the deaths of dozens of pygmy elephants belonging to rare and protected species in the Borneo forest.Some of the stunted elephants were found dead with gunshot wounds to their bodies.

Mentioned by the Director of the Sabah Wildlife Department, Augustine Tuuga, to Thursday (08/30/2018), that at least 25 dwarf elephants died in the territory of Sabah , Borneo this year.

"This is the highest number recorded so far," said Augustine referring to the number of dwarf elephant deaths every year.

Added Augustine that more than 100 other dwarf elephants died in Sabah in the last eight years.The WWF conservation group estimates that only 1 500 remaining dwarf elephants remain.

Pygmy elephants who have faces like baby elephants, have big ears and long tails that hang.Pygmy elephants can be found in Borneo or Kalimantan, which is divided into three countries, namely Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam.

Habitat loss is the biggest threat to the survival of dwarf elephants.The rise of deforestation and the rapid expansion of oil palm plantations have contributed to the declining population of dwarf elephants.

Not a few dwarf elephants die in the hands of hunters or get caught in traps that are intentionally installed to catch them.

Local authorities have not been able to find the exact cause of the high number of dwarf elephant deaths this year.But Augustine said most dwarf elephants were outside the forest and more often inside the plantation area.

The latest death of dwarf elephants in Sabah occurred on Saturday (25/8) local time.At that time, wildlife authority officials found the carcass of a female dwarf elephant that had rotted inside the local plantation area.The dwarf elephant had a gunshot scar on its temples.

Before that, two other dwarf elephants were reported dead as a result of being shot and several others died from injuries sustained after being caught in a trap.

According to Augustine, it is not easy to arrest and try the killers of these dwarf elephants.Especially because of the remote location and lack of information and eyewitness information.Augustine said that there were absolutely no witnesses who appeared despite the stipulated reward of 120 thousand Ringgit (Rp. 427 million).

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Juvenile elephant shot dead in Tongod

TONGOD: An elephant was found dead with a gunshot wound at Kampung Karamuak here.

This brings the number of elephants killed in Sabah to 10 this year.

A team of wildlife rangers from Kinabatangan Wildlife Office stumbled upon the carcass of the juvenile male elephant by the roadside at Kampung Karamuak here about 7.40am on July 23.

Sabah Wildlife Department public relations officer Siti Nur’Ain Ampuan Acheh said the wildlife rangers were returning home from carrying out elephant controls at Kampung Karamuak.

“The juvenile male elephant is about three to four years old,” she said in a statement yesterday.

She added that a team was sent yesterday to investigate and conduct a post-mortem to determine the cause of death.

The post-mortem team found a wound at the right rump of the elephant, she said, adding a pellet was inside the abdomen.

“Some parts of the intestines were torn. There was a severe internal bleeding inside the abdomen suggesting several blood vessels were damaged.

“The cause of death is determined to be hypovolemic shock due to severe internal bleeding caused by the pellet,” Siti Nur’Ain explained.

“From the position of the injury and the trajectory of the pellet, it is highly probable that the elephant was shot either from a close range from an elevated place or from the back of a vehicle.”

Siti Nur’Ain said according to information gathered during investigation, a herd of elephants had been in Kampungg Karamuak for the last one month.

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Elephant bull captured in Ulu Muanad Beluran

KOTA KINABALU: An elephant bull has been captured and will be transferred out from Kg Ulu Muanad, Beluran, to a distant forest reserve.

According to Sabah Wildlife Department’s spokesperson, Siti Nur’ain Amp Acheh, the elephant bull was captured after two weeks of tracking its movement.

She said that there are still three elephants remaining in the area and that SWD hopes to capture and translocate them as soon as possible out of the area.

She explained that human-elephant conflict in Ulu Muanad has been an issue since November, 2015.

The damages caused by the elephants at the area were estimated to be nearly RM200,000 per annum.

The Sandakan Wildlife Office has been working closely with the community at Ulu Muanad, The Forest Trust (NGO) and IJM Plantation in Ulu Muanad since 18 November, 2015 to address the human-elephant conflict there.

The Forest Trust and IJM Plantation has formed a team comprising of youths from Kg Ulu Muanad to assist the department to mitigate the conflict.

Training and workshops have been conducted to prepare the team for the task.

The full cooperation from the team and the fund provided by the Forest Trust and IJM Plantation as well as the local community in Kg Ulu Muanad have helped eased the human-elephant conflict there and SWD is grateful for their support.

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Bull elephant captured, waiting to be translocated to forest reserve

BELURAN: A bull elephant was successfully captured at Kampung Ulu Muanad here by wildlife rangers yesterday after two weeks of tracking, and is now waiting to be translocated to a forest reserve.

There were still three other elephants remaining in the area which Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) hoped to capture and translocate as soon as possible to reduce human-elephant conflict there, said SWD officer and spokesperson Siti Nurain Ampuan Acheh.

The Sandakan Wildlife Department office at present has been working closely with the community there, as well as non-governmental organisation (NGO) the Forest Trust and IJM Plantation management since November 2015, when the human-elephant conflict become an issue.

In a statement here, Siti Nurain said the conflict had resulted in damage of about RM200,000 a year.

“The Forest Trust and IJM Plantation then formed a team of youths from Kg Ulu Muanad to assist the Wildlife Department to mitigate the conflict.

“Training and workshop were conducted to prepare the team to assist in mitigating the conflict.

“The full cooperation of the whole team has eased the situation of human-elephant conflict in Ulu Muanad, and Sabah Wildlife Department wishes to thank those involved in the process and hoped for their continuous support,” she added.

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Juvenile pygmy elephant found dead with wounds all over body

KOTA KINABALU: A juvenile male pygmy elephant was found dead near an abandoned logging camp outside the Kuamut Forest Reserve in east coast Kinabatangan district.

The elephant, believed to be between five and eight years old, was found dead with wounds on its body by estate workers on Thursday (July 19).

Sabah Wildlife Department public relation officer Siti Nur’Ain Ampuan Acheh said a team of investigators were sent to the scene after receiving the report.

“The elephant was found with a severe crack on the left side of its skull, believed to have resulted from fighting with a larger elephant,” she said in a statement Sunday.

Meanwhile, Siti said the other parts of the elephants body and ivory were intact.

She also thanked the estate workers from Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd who alerted them about the elephant.

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