Malaysia: Elephant gores tourist to death

Durie Rainer Fong The Star 8 Dec 11;

KOTA KINABALU: An Australian female tourist was gored to death by a bull elephant that charged at her as she was photographing it in Sabah's Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

Jenna O'Grady Donley, 26, a Sydney-based veterinarian, was attacked by the elephant, which was apparently startled by the sounds of the camera shutter and flash in the 6.30am incident yesterday.

Witnesses claimed that she could not flee in time as the elephant charged at her suddenly. Her woman companion and guide escaped the attack at the 123,000ha wildlife re-serve about 100km from Lahad Datu.

State Wildlife Department director Dr Laurentius Ambu said a group of women and their guide had gone to a nearby mud volcano and decided to take the wildlife trail on their way back to the resort.

Dr Ambu said the group had gone off the trail to take photographs of the wild elephant, which he suspected was a single bull.

Single bull elephants, he said, tend to be loners and were dangerous with their unpredictable behaviour.

Dr Ambu said the women had stopped about 10m from the animal and started taking pictures.

He said this might have provoked the elephant.

He added that the others escaped but the woman could not as she was the closest to the animal.

The woman's remains have been sent to a hospital in Lahad Datu.

The department's wildlife unit chief veterinarian Dr Sen Nathan said a team had been sent to check on the bull and to ascertain the situation concerning the animal.

“We have to check if the elephant was in a state of musth (when testosterone levels are high and the animal becomes aggressive and unpredictable) and see what needs to be done,” he said.

Dr Sen said this was the first time such an incident had occurred within the wildlife reserve although there had been two other cases of elephants goring humans in Sabah over the last decade.

Question mark over fate of killer elephant
The Star 9 Dec 11;

KOTA KINABALU: Conservationists are unsure over the next course of action to take against a bull that gored an Australian tourist at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

The killer Borneo Pygmy elephant is among 300 to 500 elephants that roam the reserve.

A conservationist said the elephant had not trespassed into settlements occupied by humans.

“In this case, it is humans who have trespassed into their territory. How can we blame it?” asked a Sabah-based elephant conservationist who declined to be named.

On the other hand, the elephant had attacked a human and there is a possibility that it could do so again, he said.

Among the options are to relocate it to captivity or even putting the elephant to sleep, the expert added.

A single bull elephant, according to wildlife experts, can be dangerous and aggressive.

Jenna O’Grady Donley is the first person to be gored by an elephant in the Tabin reserve though there have been two fatalities – one in Tongod involving a villager and a plantation worker in Tawau.

In both cases, the elephants had strayed into settlements.

Meanwhile, a medical examination conducted at the Lahad Datu Hospital indicated that Jenna had died from multiple piercings by the tusk of the elephant.

The body of the 26-year-old is expected to be flown back to Australia today.

Little chance of escaping from a raging elephant
Roy Goh and Avila Geraldine New Straits Times 9 Dec 11;
JENNA O'Grady Donley had little chance of escaping from the raging elephant that gored her to death in Lahad Datu two days ago.

The Bornean pygmy elephant may seem slow and sluggish, but when it sets its sight on an enemy, it moves with unpredictable speed.

A veterinarian and a ranger, who were part of the State Wildlife department's Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU), came close to a similar fate last year.

Dr Sen Nathan and Jibius Dausip were releasing an elephant when it suddenly turned on them in the Ulu Segama area, forcing them to run up a hill.

Fortunately for them, they were alert and had years of experience handling wild elephants, unlike Donley, who was due to graduate as a veterinarian next week.

Tour guide Tham Yau Kong, who was with five foreign guests at the Tabin Wildlife Resort in the reserve for three days until Wednesday, said Donley and her friend looked keen on observing wildlife when they met on Tuesday.

They were looking forward to see wild animals and had engaged an in-house guide to walk the jungle trails in the 120,000ha reserve, which is also popular for its mud volcanoes.

In his 22 years as a guide, Tham believes no one could have anticipated the attack by the tunggal, or an elderly male elephant that roams on its own in the jungle.

"The two Australian women were eager and appeared to have good knowledge of animals," said Tham, but noted that would not be enough when faced with such an encounter in the forests.

A team from the WRU is now in the reserve to identify the elephant that killed Donley and monitor its movements.

The team may also consider moving it to other locations.

Former Sabah Tourist Association chairman L.P. Liew said safety guideline on wildlife viewing needed to be introduced for tourism players, rangers, guides and villagers.

Photographs of wild animals are prized collections by tourists and operators, but there is a need for the authorities to lay down some ground rules for the sake of their safety, Liew said.

Meanwhile, state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said Donley's family had contacted and instructed the Australian High Commission to make arrangements to fly her remains home.

Budding vet with a golden heart
Australian killed by bull elephant had real affinity with animals
Lee Shi-ian and Hariz Mohd New Straits Times 9 Dec 11;

AUSTRALIAN Jenna O'Grady Donley, who died on Wednesday after being gored by an elephant in Lahad Datu, Sabah, was described as a gifted would-be veterinarian with a keen interest in wild animals.

Jenna's mother, Liz Donley, said her daughter was respectful of the animal's environment and believed she had startled the bull elephant, causing it to attack.

She told The Australian newspaper and 774 ABC Melbourne that bull elephants were not only fast and could move unpredictably. They were also aggressive and protective. She added that it was a tragic accident.

"Jenna had a keen interest in wild animals, especially big ones," said Liz.

"She had gone to Africa several years ago to help injured animals at a wildlife sanctuary and had recently completed a thesis on renal failure in big cats, which Jenna was hopeful would assist in finding a cure.

"She was a very gifted child in the veterinary science field and had a good mixture of passion, intelligence and a complete devotion to the health of animals.

"It's difficult to accept losing my only child at the age of 25 when she had such a bright future ahead of her.

"But I hope that her work will leave a lasting legacy for others to follow.

"The tragedy has happened and from that, we have to move on with a positive note.

"From Jenna's work and from the type of person that she was, we know that she had many friends and a good family. Someone else now will take on that research and continue her work."

In an earlier interview with the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries' newspaper Agriculture Today, Jenna had said she loved working with farmers during her various internships in the province.

"Caring about rural people, their land, livelihood, animals, becoming involved with their families... it is refreshing to be able to work with such genuine, down-to-earth people," said Jenna.

The Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur confirmed they were looking into the incident, but declined to comment on arrangements to fly Jenna's body back to Sydney for burial in her hometown.

In Wednesday's incident, Jenna was gored to death by a bull pygmy elephant at the Tabin Wildlife Sanctuary at 8.30am as she was taking photographs of the animal.

Jenna had reportedly gone to the wildlife sanctuary with a friend and tour guide at 7am. When they noticed a lone elephant, Jenna and her friend went closer to take pictures of the animal.

The elephant suddenly charged at Jenna and its tusk pierced her body, killing her on the spot. The guide and Jenna's friend managed to get to safety. Additional reporting by Carisma Kapoor