KOTA KINABALU, April 24 – If is a human being, she would
tell us the cruelties that human beings have inflicted on her family members.
Ina's Grandma had
died of poisoning by humans, along with some of Ina’s cousins.
Grandma was the leader of the Bornean elephants that roam
the tropical rainforests of Sabah.
Caption: Bornean elephants keep Sabah’s forests healthy through
seed dispersal.
To say that these majestic mammals of Sabah were heartbroken
when a beloved family member passed away is an understatement. Every female
elephant has a close relationship to members of her herd, which was why Ina’s
aunts refused to leave Grandma’s lifeless body until Mama, despite her grief,
promptly took over as their leader and insisted that they kept moving.
The next day, two of Ina’s cousins passed away in a
similar fashion, suddenly collapsing and gasping with a bewildered look on
their faces before life fluttered away from their heavy frames.
Mama decided there and then that the herd would have to
walk further away so they could be safer.
The story above gives us a glimpse of the threats faced
by Sabah’s elephants. One of the dangers that they face is losing their homes
when forests are cleared and turned into other land uses such as oil palm
plantations.
During the 1990s and 2000s, forest loss had accelerated
in Sabah, shrinking the elephant range.
Based on a study done by WWF-Malaysia in late 2000s, it
was estimated that there may be less than 1,500 Bornean elephants left in
Sabah.
Over the years, their forest habitat has grown smaller and
their survival is threatened due to increasing conflict with humans who were
intruding into the traditional range of elephants.
In 2012 alone, there were 99 cases of human-elephant
conflict reported in Sabah. Sadly, most cases went unreported, and not a single
suspect has been prosecuted for retaliatory killings over crop-damage in recent
years.
“The lack of forest connectivity between fragmented
forests is just one of the reasons why there’s an increase in human-elephant
conflict,” said Sharon Koh, a senior
programme officer of WWF-Malaysia. “It’s a complex situation and we need active
participation from all stakeholders to reduce the conflict,” she added.
As part of its continuous efforts to address
human-elephant conflict, WWF-Malaysia had co-organised a workshop with Sabah
Wildlife Department in March this year for oil palm companies in Kalabakan to
discuss conflict management options.
At the workshop, the participants showed locations in
their plantations that have been fenced or trenched, thus blocking Bornean
elephants’ movement paths.
They also shared the locations of crop damage by the
elephants, an essential information that will help to develop management
options for human-elephant conflict.
“We don’t recommend the translocation of Bornean
elephants as it is an expensive measure that also creates a lot of stress for
the herds.
"Satellite collaring of elephants has also suggested
that the translocated elephants often returned to their original habitat.
"Unhealthy translocated elephants may also introduce
diseases to their new habitat,” said Dr Cheryl Cheah, a senior programme
officer who coordinates the field research on Bornean elephants for WWF-Malaysia.
It is being increasingly realised that there is no
one-size-fits-all solution for human-elephant conflict. Conservation-friendly
land use planning, protection of critical areas from forest conversion,
establishing safe movement corridors, well-planned electric fencing and
compensation for crop damages to marginal farmers are some of the options
suitable to reduce human-elephant conflicts.
With the implementation of these options, it is hoped
that Bornean elephants like Ina and her family will be able to continue
surviving in their beloved home in Sabah.
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