Sukau a ‘do or die’ bottleneck for elephants: PhD student
Published on: Saturday, April 22, 2017
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A BOTTLENECK is a point of congestion that can shut down or ruin the performance of an entire system because of a single hindrance.
PhD student Nurzhafarina Othman has cleverly used this vivid analogy to highlight the “do or die” importance of Sukau for the future of the herd of 230-250 elephants of Kinabatangan.
So, here is another case of a bright and articulate Malaysian conservationist who can tell the whole world better than anybody else what to do and what not to do.
She said: “Sukau is really critical because it is like a very big bottleneck of a sand clock for the elephants.
“First, they start foraging in a wide area like Lot 7 upstream near Batu Putih down to Lot 4 then all push through a very narrow area to pass Sukau at Lot 3 before emerging in another wide area comprising Lot 2 and Lot 1 downstream towards Abai,” Farina paints the sand clock picture.
Like the bottleneck of a sand clock
She added: “Sukau is the bottleneck of that big sand clock. If the elephants can’t even use this bottle neck at Lot 3, they are left with no options on either sides of the river because a step beyond Lot 3 on the south bank are all plantations and the north back are people of a populated Kg Sukau – both of whom will push them back,” Farina explains.
“So this bottleneck is the constricted through passage. If they cannot pass it, it means we’ll cut their home range into two, trapping them at a much reduced range either at Lot 7-4 or at Lot 1 and 2.”
Bottleneck effect extinction is real
“People asked me whether I think the elephants get extinct or not, knowing that they are generalists which will not die off easily by virtue of that, I believe they will go extinct by people killing them arising from conflict,” she said.
“Once this Sukau bottleneck is blocked, the elephants will start to use other places since they need to go somewhere.
“Now everywhere they go is oil palms, villages… everything has humans and so they’ll face humans but human think it’s their property, so they’ll start to poison or kill the elephants.”
Trust not avowed undertaking
Not a great believer of human nature, Farina says:
“Oh yes, there are people who undertake: ‘We will not kill them, you know we have left them alone for generations’. But I look at examples from other districts.
“True, in the beginning they are okay but later on they began to push the Sabah Wildlife Department to translocate the elephants or pressure them to do something about the beasts.
“So over time, people start feeling more upset with elephants. I am not accusing anyone but seriously, based on experience, that’s what happens. People start killing them.”
Impact of a bridge and highway as she sees it
Farina went on to impress Daily Express with a persuasive piece of environmental impact assessment of her own.
She said: “Even now, Sukau is a bottleneck but the elephants are using it because there is not much disturbance.
“But with the traffic that will happen (if a bridge and highway are built), people will start opening up lands along the river and there will be a build up of more disturbances over time.
“So what I am afraid of is that (Sukau bride and followed by a highway) will cut the Kinabatangan elephant range into half at the bottleneck, which will cause a big effect to them in the long term.”
Future of elephants: Keep Kinabatangan as it is
Having articulated her ideas with ringing clarity, Daily Express asked: “What do you think of the future of the 230-250 herd of elephants in the Kinabatangan?”
She said: “I think Kinabatangan is the best place for the elephants to live in.”
Why?
“First of all, Sukau is very close to the water which is so important to them. They need a lot of water so elephants like very low areas near the river. In addition, right now, the Sukau community could live with them, they understand and respect the elephants.
“So I believe as far as we can, we have to keep Kinabatangan, we have to keep Kinabatangan like it is.
“If we do more development now, if we open up more lands right now over there, it will damage not only the elephants. It will affect many other wildlife species and people, too, and so conflict with elephants will make life miserable for people,” Farina said.
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