WWF: Reminder on need to co-exist with jumbos
Published on: Monday, August 12, 2019
Kota Kinabalu: Although there are some 2,000 Borneo elephants in Sabah dense jungles, you may only catch rare glimpses of them.They navigate the landscape to maintain biodiversity as paths are cleared for smaller animals and seeds are dispersed for new plants to grow.
ADVERTISEMENT
They remain affectionate to those who treat them kindly, much like humans who are capable of empathy.
Borneo elephants or pygmy elephants are the world’s smallest known subspecies of elephants, and differ from their Asian counterparts with more rounded bodies and faces, big ears and disproportionately long tails.
They are only found in Sabah, with a small population in North Kalimantan.
These days, they travel in small herds of about 10-30 individuals, along traditional routes guided by one generation to another.
ADVERTISEMENT
At times these small herds do congregate and their numbers have been observed of up to 60-100 individuals in one location.
Unlike in other parts of Asia like Thailand and Myanmar where they are trained from a young age to transport people and cargo mahout tradition of training Borneo elephants has never existed in Sabah
ADVERTISEMENT
In fact, in some places here, elephants and people have learnt to share their resources and space, but what happens when it gets too close for comfort?
Their space has been affected lately due to development and population growth, often without proper land use planning and encroaching further into wildlife territory.
More often than not, plantations are developed adjacent to forest edges, and elephant paths tend to cross through what are now converted to orchards and plantations. When elephants reach the edge of the forest, they will trespass the estates that they once called home to reach other forest grounds, munching and trampling on crops as they go.
Adult elephants feed on 150kg of vegetation daily, which explains their learned behavior of feeding on crops in these plantations to complement their natural diet.
WWF Malaysia said this was why human-elephant conflict is an ongoing issue in Sabah. People are often faced with a possible course of action that leads to dire consequences –either safeguarding their livelihood or leaving these animals to forage on their cash crops.
It said it takes more than just changes in policies to realise overall change.
“If people are able to view most wild animals beyond a nuisance to be controlled, perhaps our wildlife can promote a sense of national pride,” it said, in a statement.
WWF said the path to coexistence is not easy– it requires compromise from multiple parties to ensure the outcomes are parallel with their ultimate conservation goal.
Three years ago, Sabah Softwoods Berhad, a tree plantation and oil palm plantation company, agreed to set aside approximately 1,000 hectares of their land to establish and restore a wildlife corridor for the movement of elephants and other wildlife species.
The company set aside land on a 14 km stretch to connect the forest reserves of Ulu Segama and Ulu Kalumpang – a gift to the Heart of Borneo. These days, more and more plantation companies are taking on proactive roles towards sustainability and committing more resources towards conservation.
However, it noted there is still more to be done for our environment and endangered elephants.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
