Jumbo PhD from small NGO
Published on: Saturday, April 22, 2017
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ONE by one, local post grads emerged to debunk charges that Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) is but an enclave of foreign grads.
Last week, Penampang lass Leona Wai hailed DGFC for the one and only opportunity to kick-start her Masters degree on the “Ecology and Distribution of Otters in Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary”.
This week, bright and articulate lass, Nurzhafarina Othman, from Kota Sarang Semut, Kedah, pays tribute to DGFC also for the one and only field opportunity to wrap up a PhD from Cardiff University, UK, on “Movement Ecology Behaviour of Bornean Elephants of Lower Kinabatangan”.
After primary school, Farina followed Felda officer dad to KL for secondary education, did matriculation in Negri Sembilan, then hopped over to Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) – the only university which admitted her to a 1st degree on Conservation Biology completed in 2006 followed by a Masters degree on Conservation Genetics of Elephants in 2010.
“I want to tell the public that there are Malaysians who care and who are trained in conservation, because now people are claiming that western people come here and tell everyone what to do,” Farina explained why she and Leona approached Daily Express 12 days ago.
By its very nature, field opportunities in pursuit of a PhD on conservation are narrow and limited.
DGFC saw Farina’s potentials and passion when others didn’t.
She explained: “In conservation, the only way to pursue the highest academic level for is through a university, be attached as a lecturer or tutor to get a scholarship and be sent to do a PhD.”
“I applied but nobody took me in except many excuses but then DGFC saw my potentials and passion and said: ‘We will try our best to give you the opportunity’. So they helped me find the funding and I took the opportunity,” Farina explained why she is grateful to the maligned, small NGO.
Registering part-time with DGFC for a PhD under Cardiff University, she spent three years working two weeks at a time in the field in Lower Kinabatangan.
“I followed the elephants from 6am to 6pm, tried to record what they do in different habitats.”
Asked if this wasn’t tough for a young girl, she said: “I always had two guides with me all the time, so they always watched my back and yelled – ‘elephants, run, run, run’,” she quipped.
Interesting finds on the elephants of Kinabatangan
So here’s the real question: What did she find out about the elephants?
“My observation and analysis found elephants behave differently in different habitats,” Farina said.
“So I compare their behaviour between natural and non-natural habitats.
“Basically, elephants are more vigilant in oil palm plantations, they rest less, move more and socialise less in oil palm areas than in natural habitats. So I will publish that paper hopefully by the end of this year.”
But what does she mean by natural habitats?
“By natural habitats, I mean river banks, riparian is along the river bank and semi swamps where the elephants love it,” she said.
Here’s an interesting finding most city folks would not know.
“When they are in natural habitats you can see both the calves and adults are lying down on the ground when they rest but in oil palm plantations, most of the time only the calves lie down but the females all rest standing up.”
Why?
“I think just to make sure their babies are protected!” Farina explained the behavioural difference.
But at the end of the day, Farina said one of her concerns is whether the public will take Malaysian conservationists seriously.
Help people judge when an elephant is angry
The good news is Daily Express is impressed and found her interview substantial.
“But I don’t want to create an impression that I claim to be the only one who knows the elephants,” she stressed.
“I am afraid if I say that, the local villagers can always argue – ‘oh we have been dealing with the elephants for generations, we know how the elephants behave’.
“Indeed, I learnt a lot from their experience and stories and I am a bit lucky that I could spend time with the groups and followed the groups (elephants move in groups) but when I am looking at the elephants, I take it systematically,” Farina said.
“For instance, if someone says an elephant is angry, how does a layman know?
“But when I say an elephant is angry, I know exactly how the ears look like because there are a few things elephants do to say ‘I am angry now with you’.
“So this is not just experience but documented by researchers in different places such as India, which I take into account and apply it,” Farina distinguished.
The burden of understanding elephant behaviour falls squarely on homo sapiens to maximise their conservation and minimise conflicts, Farina believes.
“That’s one of the things we try to do – create awareness among people that just because the elephants are looking at them or staring at them doesn’t mean they are angry when they are just analysing them if that’s a threat or it’s okay,” she pointed out.
Ignorant provocation starts conflict
“One problem is most of the time oil palm people think elephants are upset just because they are looking at somebody, want to chase and attack them and give bad impressions to the animals which are just analysing them,” she added.
“Once elephants look at people like this and somebody starts throwing things, or shout, or reeve up the motor bike to make noise, they are provoking the elephants which can alter their behaviour and a conflict starts there.
“So what we are trying to do is to help villagers and oil palm people that they have to really understand how elephants look when they are angry and when they are just analysing somebody.”
Do elephants have long memories?
But do elephants really have long memories as many people claim?
“Yes, that’s very correct,” Farina agreed. In what sense is that correct?
“In the sense that mother elephants pass on information and knowledge to their calves.
“Since they live 60 to 70 years, once they start to pass on knowledge it will stay in the herd,” Farina explained.
“For example, food wise, the baby elephants sometimes will come and put their tongue in their mother’s mouth while the mother is chewing the food. It’s kind of trying to figure out what the mother is eating.”
There are also claims that if one offends the elephants, they will return to settle the score. How true is that?
“I have spoken to a few Indonesian workers in oil palm plantations, they always make claims like that.
For example, if they say bad words to the elephants they purportedly remember that, come back to you, do destruction to you but so far with me, I haven’t experienced that.
But I do know they have good memories on where to find water and where to find food.”
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