Sabah mulls new 'life corridor' for elephants

Kota Kinabalu: The State Government is contemplating creating a new "corridor of life" linking three known pygmy elephant habitats which will have ample food and thus ensure their survival through minimising conflict with humans.

They are the Lower Kinabatangan Managed Elephant Range (MER), Tabin MER and Central Sabah MER in the Danum area.

The forests in these elephant habitat are a mix of primary and secondary forests. Elephants eat grasses, roots, fruit and bark.

They use their tusks to pull the bark from trees and dig roots out of the ground. An adult elephant can eat 300 pounds (136kg) of food in a day,and drink up to 150-200 litres of water per day.

"For a start, we will consider planting vegetation (grasses and shrubs) in the three areas individually before connecting the areas at a later stage of development.

"The aim is to create a sustainable food chain within the three Managed Elephant Ranges. Such move will avert crop damage in the oil-palm plantations andsmallholdings," a joint meeting involving the two State Ministries concluded.

The Ministries involved are the Ministry of Tourism, Culture Ministers (Datuk Christina Liew) and and Environment and Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (Datuk Junz Wong).

This is in view of 116 elephant deaths recorded between October 2010 and September this year. Of this, 30 elephants died this year alone, the latest, a female aged between 12 and 15 years, died at the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve (Tawau) on October 18.

According to Dr Roza, a veterinarian with the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) who conducted the post-mortem, the elephant died due to a fight with other elephants.

It was decided that given the loss of habitat, the 2,000-odd elephants need a "home" so that they will not encroach into oil-palm plantations and risk getting snared or shot to death.

"Bornean pygmy elephants are a 'prestige' breed as they are peculiar to Borneo. We are intensifying our efforts to protect the elephants and prevent their extinction.

"In the meantime, we need the 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," the Ministers said in a joint statement.

Expressing the Government's determination to resolve the human-elephant conflict, Liew, who is also a Deputy Chief Minister, and Wong stressed that political will is indispensable in this respect.

"A special task force will be set up, comprising officials from the ministries and relevant agencies," they said. The SWD has been entrusted with the task of 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.

The DCM said the joint meeting was in response to the call by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal to the two ministries to collectively address the outstanding problem.

It was unanimously agreed that the Sabah Forestry Department be enlisted in the Elephant Protection Cause. Its Director will be invited to attend the next meeting.

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).

Number of elephant deaths by district is as follows : Died in captivity (2), Keningau (1), Tawau/Kalabakan (35), Lahad Datu (30), Kinabatangan (31) and Sandakan/Telupid (17).

The meeting also discussed the possibility of getting agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry to "adopt" one or two elephants in the interest of their well-being. Liew suggested that the previous plan of "loaning" an elephant to the Rasa Ria Reserve in Tuaran, be re-visited if possible.

Rosmadi conceded that with the presence of 15 elephants, there is congestion at the LWP. "Ideally, by international convention, the zoo should have only four to five elephants. So the rest should be in the wild but then there is not enough food," he said while emphasising the need to relocate 10 elephants to other areas.

Meanwhile, the Minister questioned Tuuga over the five-month delay in the completion of renovation works at the LWP. It was supposed to have been completed by the end of September. Rosmadi said the works will be completed by the end of October.

The issue of smuggling of plants was also brought to the Minister's attention.

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=128169

Wildlife Dept chases 25 elephants back into jungle

LAHAD DATU, June 2 — The Lahad Datu District Wildlife Department is conducting an operation to drive 25 elephants to their original habitat in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve area after they were seen wandering around Kg Teburi and Kampung Sri Darun near here.

Its officer, Silvester Saimin, said 16 personnel were involved in the operation which was carried out during the day while they stood guard at night, after receiving complaints from the villagers, since May 21.

“We scare off the elephants by making a lot of noise,” he said when contacted here, today.

Silvester said a check at both villages found that the wild elephants had damaged the villagers’ crops, but did not disturb the residents.

The 25 elephants from the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, which bordered the villages, had encroached into the Bagahak 1 plantation but intruded into the human settlements after they were disturbed by activities to fell old oil palm trees in the plantation for replanting, he added. — Bernama


Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
https://www.malaymail.com/s/1637717/wildlife-dept-chases-25-elephants-back-into-jungle

6 pygmy elephants found dead in Sabah in recent weeks

KUALA LUMPUR: Six Borneo pygmy elephants have been found dead in oil palm plantations in Sabah in recent weeks, officials said Monday, the latest of the endangered creatures to perish as their rainforest habitat is devastated.

The carcasses of the elephants, aged between one and 37, were discovered at different locations in Sabah, local Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga told AFP.

“We are currently conducting tests on their internal organs,” he said, adding the carcasses did not have any signs of gunshot wounds.


Tuuga said the elephants could have accidentally consumed fertiliser in the palm oil plantations, which could have poisoned them.

The Star newspaper, citing conservationists, said the creatures might have drunk from poisoned watering holes.

There are about 2,000 pygmy elephants, the smallest type of elephants in Asia, in the wild. Late last year, three were killed by poachers.

In 2013, 14 pygmy elephants were found dead in Sabah and were thought to have been poisoned.

They are threatened by widespread logging of their natural habitat to make way for lucrative oil palm plantations, and are targeted by poachers as their ivory fetches a high price on the black market.

The pygmy elephants are baby-faced with oversized ears, plump bellies and tails so long they sometimes drag on the ground as they walk.


Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/05/21/6-pygmy-elephants-found-dead-in-sabah-in-recent-weeks/

Borneo’s elephants prefer degraded forests, a new study finds

Conservation-minded planners often pick places with the fewest signs of human impact for protection, and, across the tropics, pristine rainforests with the tallest trees often rise to the top of the list.

But safeguarding specific so-called “degraded” areas as conservation targets is also important, especially when they constitute the best habitat for threatened species. A new study supports that conclusion: It confirmed that Bornean elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis), considered by some scientists to be a subspecies of the endangered Asian elephant, actually prefer disturbed forests with shorter trees to denser primary forests.

“There are obviously many benefits of protecting primary forests,” said Luke Evans, an ecologist with the Danau Girang Field Centre in Malaysia and the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford, California, and lead author of the paper. “We’re just saying that, for elephants, it’s not particularly useful.”

 To read the full article, click on the story title

LED lights being used to prevent elephants destroying crops

After digging trenches and putting up solar-powered electric fences, the state Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) has introduced an unique solution to keep elephants from encroaching human settlements.

LED lights are being utilised to prevent rampaging elephants from destroying farmer's crops. The method which was introduced in Kuala Medang in Lipis several months ago has shown promising results.

State Perhilitan director Ahmad Azhar Mohammad said the solar-powered LED (light-emitting diodes) bulbs had resulted in a 90 per cent drop in elephant encroachment into agricultural land or villages during the night.

"The technique was first used in Pahang and so far 30 units have been installed. The method will be expanded to other conflict areas and we are looking into further improving the technique.

"Sadly, some irresponsible individuals have been removing the LED lights and this is a setback to the department's efforts to prevent the mammals from destroying farms and fruits trees. I hope villagers will cooperate with Perhilitan to tackle the problems," he said today.

The LED bulbs are tied to wooden poles so that elephants can see them from a distance.

It was learnt that elephants keep away from getting close to flashing lights instead of fixed or powerful lights.

Each LED unit has a built-in solar charger thus making the lights maintenance free, low cost and can be setup with minimum support.

It was learnt that the LED method, which was widely used in farms in India, was still in the early stages of its implementation in Pahang and farmers were keen to learn about the method.

Perhilitan had previously deployed various efforts to minimise the elephant threats including building solar-powered fences which deliver jolts of up to 12 kilovolts, digging trenches, and carrying out the capture and relocate programme.

On a separate matter, Ahmad Azhar said the herd of elephants spotted walking in an oil palm plantation in Kota Gelanggi, Jerantut several days ago was believed to have been separated into two groups.

"The herd was walking along their usual track towards its habitat but upon noticing a group of people watching them from a bridge, two of the elephants separated and were believed to have returned towards the village.

"Although people were standing far away it makes our job to chase the animals back to their habitat more difficult and might now require more time," he said, referring to the incident on Aug 29 where several motorists stopped their vehicles upon spotting the elephants walking below the bridge.

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2017/09/275312/led-lights-being-used-prevent-elephants-destroying-crops

Elephant killed by tour bus in Malaysia

A 10-year-old elephant was killed on Wednesday morning after it was hit by a tour bus along the Gerik-Jeli Highway, according to wildlife activist group Management & Ecology of Malaysian Elephants, reports Channel News Asia. In a Facebook post, MEME shared police photos that showed the injured elephant on the side of the road. The animal was seen to have sustained head and body injuries.

No one on the bus, which sustained a large crack on its windscreen, was reportedly hurt. The Malay Mail cited Gerik police deputy Chief Mohd Sohaimi Ishak as saying that the bus was driving down a slope when the elephant suddenly ran across its path.

Perak Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) director Loo Kean Seong also said that the forested area where the incident happened is also a habitat for elephants, said the The Star.

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:http://dailyasianage.com/news/82212/elephant-killed-by-tour-bus-in-malaysia

(The Star) RM15mil sanctuary for elephants soon

Work on the first phase of the RM15mil Johor Elephant Sanctuary is underway and will provide a safe home for about 15 elephants.

Johor Health, Environment, Information and Education Committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat said a contractor was appointed in May to start work on the 100ha project.

“The first phase will see about 15 elephants being housed in the sanctuary located along Jalan Lombong, not far from the Kota Tinggi waterfall, where the wild animals can roam freely,” he said.

He said the first phase was scheduled for completion at the end of next year and with that, help improve the conflict between wild elephants and humans in Kluang and Kota Tinggi.

He added that the sanctuary would also doubled as a tourism attraction for nature lovers to get close to the elephants.

“Johor’s vast forests are habitats to about 140 wild elephants where Segamat, Kluang, Mersing and Kota Tinggi are their stomping grounds,” he said.

The rapid developments and deforestation leading to the shrinking of the wild animals’ natural habitat have caused the animals to enter villages in search of food, creating conflicts with humans.

Ayub said the state received 75 complaints from residents and villagers of wild elephants encroaching into their farms and villages from January to May this year.

The highest complaints came from Kluang and Kota Tinggi with Kampung Sri Lukut and Mawai respectively being the most affected villages, he said.

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) received an average 181 complaints from villagers and the agricultural industry each year from 2011 to 2016 with damages amounting to about RM1.2mil annually.

Ayub said since 2008 to May this year, Perhilitan transferred 48 wild elephants out of Kluang alone and each transfer process cost about RM50,000.

To read the full article, click on the story title