As Sabah's elephant population grows, conflict with humans on the rise

RUBEN SARIO The Star 21 Feb 15;

KOTA KINABALU: An increase in the population of Sabah's Bornean pygmy elephants coupled with a decline in their habitat is resulting in more frequent incidents involving the pachyderms.

A 57-year-old woman was slightly injured when she and a husband stumbled across an adult bull elephant on Thursday in Telupid district along the state’s east coast, in the latest human-elephant conflict.

Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan said the 2.3m tall elephant injured the woman, Justina Ompang, while she was walking to work with her husband.

The incident occurred in Kampung Gambaron, about two kilometres from Telupid town, around 6.20am when heavy mist enveloped the area.

Justina and her husband, Khunyan bin Basimah, 40, were walking out of their home when they came across the elephant standing by the side of the road.

The couple were used to seeing elephants that would often retreat into the nearby jungle upon seeing them.

However, on that morning, the elephant charged at them and used its trunk to hit Justina.

Khunyan started shouting to distract the elephant and this worked, as the elephant immediately stopped attacking the woman and ran back into the forested area.

Villagers then rushed Justina to to the Telupid hospital where she was treated for bruises on her upper body.

“More than 30 elephants in four different groups have been causing severe damage to the villagers’ crops as well as damaging vehicles and motorcycles,” Dr Sen said.

The affected areas that have borne the brunt of these human-elephant conflicts were Kampung Bouto, Kampung Lubang Batu, Kampung Maliau and Kampung Gambaron.

Dr Sen said the department’s rangers, along with Wildlife Rescue Unit personnel have been working around the clock conducting Elephant Control Operations, trying to chase the elephants back into the forest and protecting the villages.

“Now with this new development, we have escalated our Elephant Control Operation to a full blown Capture and Translocation Program. It is going to be a very expensive operation, costing as much as RM 20,000-30,000 per elephant.

“We have to do it for the safety of the villager,” he said.

Department director William Baya human-elephant conflicts had been on the increase in recent years at elephant habitat areas in the central and south eastern parts of Sabah, including Sandakan, Kinabatangan, Beluran, Lahad Datu, Tawau and Nabawan and Pensiangan.

“We believe that the reason for this is the further increase in fragmentation and net loss of suitable elephant habitats, coupled by a probable net increase in elephant population state-wide,” he said, adding that a 2008 survey showed that Sabah elephant population stood at 2,000 heads.

“We need to find a solution for this problem by better managing our present elephant population as well as habitat,” William said.

He said relocating the elephants was not a permanent solution as there was documented proof that the same elephants made their way back to their original habitat and caused more conflict.

Woman hurt in elephant encounter
The Star 21 Feb 15;

KOTA KINABALU: A 57-year-old woman was slightly injured when she and a husband encountered an adult bull elephant on Thursday in the east coast Telupid district in the latest human-elephant conflict.

Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan said the 2.3m-tall elephant injured Justina Ompang as she was walking to work with her husband in Kampung Gambaron, about 2km from Telupid town, around 6.20am.

Justina and her husband Khunyan Basimah, 40, were walking out of their home when they came across a bull elephant standing by the side of the road.

Elephants often retreat into the nearby jungle upon seeing people but in this instance, the elephant charged and hit Justina with its trunk.

Khunyan started shouting to distract the elephant and it worked, as it immediately stopped attacking the wife and ran into the forested area.

Villagers then rushed Justina to the Telupid hospital where she was treated for bruises on her upper body.

Dr Sen said more than 30 elephants in four different groups have been causing severe damage to the villagers’ crops as well as damaging vehicles in several villages.

He said the department’s rangers and the Wildlife Rescue Unit personnel have been working round the clock conducting Elephant Control Operations, to chase the jumbos back into the forest.

“Now with this new development, we have boosted our operation to a full blown Capture and Translocation Programme. It is going to be a very expensive operation, costing as much as RM20,000 to RM30,000 per elephant but for the safety of the villagers we have to do it,” he said.

Department director William Baya said human-elephant conflicts had been on the increase in recent years at elephant habitat areas in the central and south eastern parts of Sabah.

“We believe the reason for this is the increase in fragmentation and loss of suitable elephant habitat, coupled with an increase in elephant population statewide,” he said, adding that a 2008 survey showed that Sabah’s elephant population stood at 2,000 heads.

Rogue elephant captured
ROY GOH New Straits Times 23 Feb 15;

TELUPID: A rogue elephant that attacked a man and his wife last week has been captured.

The male elephant was tracked down and subdued with tranquilizer by a team from the Sabah Wildlife department at about 6.20pm yesterday.

Wildlife director William Baya said the elephant estimated to be about 20 years old and measured nearly 2.3 metres in height will be sent to the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary in Sandakan for further observation on its behaviour.

"We will not translocate this elephant anywhere yet as we are worried that it might pose a similar danger somewhere else," he said.

The elephant attacked a man and his wife as they were walking to work in Kampung Gambaron Telupid at about 6.20am on Feb 19.

The woman sustained minor injuries in the attack and was given medical treatment at the district hospital before being discharged the same day.

Sabah rangers capture elephant that attacked woman
RUBEN SARIO The Star 23 Feb 15;

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Wildlife rangers have caught a bull elephant that injured a villager in the east coast Telupid district on Thursday.

Sabah Wildlife Department director William Baya said a team from the Wildlife Rescue Unit captured the elephant late Sunday after tracking the animal for three days.

“I am glad that our rangers have managed to capture this rogue elephant,” he said Monday.

Baya said the department’s veterinarian Dr Laura Benedict darted the 2.3m tall elephant at about 6.20pm after rangers tracked it down to an oil palm plantation, some two kilometres from Kampung Gambaron where the woman was attacked.

Wildlife officials were ascertaining if the elephant was in musth, a periodic condition characterised by highly aggressive behaviour accompanied by a rise in reproductive hormones.

There were no physical signs of musth normally seen in bull elephants such as oil discharge from the temporal lobe or dribbling urine.

“We will not trans-locate this elephant anywhere yet as we are worried that it might pose a similar danger somewhere else,” he said.

“The plan now is to bring it to our newly built Borneo Elephant Sanctuary (BES) where it can be further observed for its behaviour before we decide on the next course of action,” Baya added.

The bull elephant used its trunk to strike 57-year-old Justina Ompang when she and her husband, Khunyun Basimah, 40, encountered the animal on the roadside near their village.

The couple were used to seeing elephants that would often retreat into the nearby jungle upon seeing them.

On that morning, however, the bull elephant charged at them and used its trunk to hit Justina. Khunyan started shouting to distract the elephant and this worked, as the elephant immediately stopped attacking the wife and ran back into the forested area.

Villagers then rushed Justina to the Telupid hospital where she was treated for bruises on her upper body.

Villagers not afraid of elephants despite recent attacks
ROY GOH New Straits Times 10 Mar 15;

TELUPID: The presence of wild elephants in several villages near here has attracted people who are eager to get a closer look - instead of scaring them away.

Despite a recent attack on a couple at Kampung Gambaron about 2 kilometres from the town here, many residents in the surrounding areas would not let up any opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Bornean Pygmy elephants.

Among them was civil servant Jackson Watis who held his nerve by getting close to a herd not far from his home to capture a near 3-minute video of the elephants sometime in mid-February.

"It was scary but at the same time I was curious," said the 23-year-old Kampung Gambaron resident who admitted the only thing he could think of, if the elephants turned on him, would be to run as fast as he could.

"We were about 20m to 30m away and one of my friends lit fire-crackers to scare the herd away. It worked but the damage was quite extensive," Jackson said adding that he would do it again with caution.

On Feb 19, a male elephant estimated to be about 20-years-old and measuring about 2.3m in height attacked a man and his wife as they were walking to work at about 6.20am at Kampung Gambaron.

A team from the state Wildlife department subsequently captured the elephant not far from the village, located about 2km from the town here. It was later sent to the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary in Kinabatangan for further observation.

The department's Wildlife Rescue Unit have been deployed to the area to conduct control operations to chase away the elephants back into the forest and protect Kampung Gambaron as well as other nearby villages.

State Wildlife director William Baya had said such human-elephant conflicts have occurred more frequently in recent years in central and south-eastern part of Sabah such as Sandakan, Kinabatangan, Beluran, Lahad Datu, Tawau, Nabawan and Pensiangan.