MANY Sabahans are proud of their state’s magnificent Mount Kinabalu and grateful for the abundance of biological resources that provide many socio-economic opportunities to them. However, recent years have witnessed many deaths of Pygmy elephants in the state, denting Sabah’s reputation in nature conservation.
With habitat destruction and fragmentation due to forest clearance for plantations, human settlements, roads and other development, Pygmy elephants are progressively being pushed into closer contact with people, which often results in increasing conflicts between humans and the species.
These conflicts, and poaching as well, threaten the continued survival of this elephant species and also cause a variety of problems for local communities in the affected areas.
The newly-adopted Sabah State 10-year Elephant Action Plan is laudable but concerted actions from various state government agencies, local communities and plantation owners are needed to achieve its objectives.
It is still fresh in my memory the day I read with teary eyes a news report in 2013 about a baby elephant trying helplessly to wake its dead mother. The mother, one of the 14 elephants found dead at a forest reserve in Sabah’s east coast, was believed to have been poisoned.
Since then, news of Pygmy elephants being found dead in Sabah have been resurfacing, with already five deaths recorded since the beginning of 2020.
One that gripped the nation’s and international attention was the cruel killing last year of a bull elephant, which was found with over 70 bullet wounds in its body and its tusks removed, “Bounty for Pygmy elephant’s killers now at RM30k, thanks to UK-based NGO” (The Star, Oct 1, 2019; online at https://bit.ly/37y11Gd).
Such inhuman acts and the continued assault on Pygmy elephants suggest the culprits’ utter disregard of the law and insolence towards the authorities. Therefore, more serious efforts (rather than words) from all parties to halt such killing and provide better protection for Pygmy elephants are crucial to save the species from extinction.
In order to do this, empowerment of the enforcement agencies, positive community perception and voluntary measures for elephant protection by plantation owners are crucial.
Law enforcement agencies must be empowered both on paper and on the ground. We have seen that the passage of amendments to the state Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 have not prevented the killing of Pygmy elephants so far.
Researchers examining enforcement strategies have found that increasing detection of violations coupled with proper enforcement actions would best improve compliance with wildlife protection laws.
Hence, while their jurisdictions and powers are specified in the enactment, the Wildlife Department and other related enforcement agencies must be empowered further with more manpower as well as better equipment and infrastructure to enforce the law on the ground. The manpower must have strength not only in numbers but also in the capacity to investigate, collate intelligence and gather admissible evidence to ensure successful prosecution.
No matter how many more amendments are made to the law, these are not going to be effective as long as enforcement is weak because legal protection alone will not ensure compliance.
Furthermore, while conflicts are usually focused on the elephants, long-term solutions to the conflicts require altering human behaviour. Law enforcement is important because it is a primary tool for changing human behaviour, apart from education campaigns.
Other than law enforcement, perception of local communities is also important to save the species. Positive perception of Pygmy elephants will provide a long-term solution to human-elephant conflicts. People who recognise the benefits of living near wild elephants are more likely to support their existence in the area. These perceived benefits are not just financial but include knowledge transfer, infrastructure development and feelings of pride from hosting volunteers or satisfaction in doing conservation work, too.
Therefore, there is a need to organise more educational programmes in Sabah that allow communities to benefit from the Pygmy elephants’ presence to instil respect, improve tolerance and ultimately develop positive perception towards the species.
Through such programmes, the local people could work together with NGOs and government agencies to protect important Pygmy elephant range areas or to implement other conflict reduction strategies in their communities.
The current unfortunate case of Pygmy elephants actually presents an opportunity for the private sector, especially plantation companies, in Sabah to show to the international community that they do care about nature conservation. They can adopt any voluntary schemes or measures to reduce conflicts with the Pygmy elephants and protect them.
For those companies that have done so, this is the time to take the lead and strengthen their existing schemes or measures as part of their sustainable agricultural practices.
With only about 1,500 to 2,000 Pygmy elephants left in the wild, impactful action is urgently required from all of us – regulators, the public and private sector – to save the species.
DR MARIANI ARIFFIN
UPM Serdang
With habitat destruction and fragmentation due to forest clearance for plantations, human settlements, roads and other development, Pygmy elephants are progressively being pushed into closer contact with people, which often results in increasing conflicts between humans and the species.
These conflicts, and poaching as well, threaten the continued survival of this elephant species and also cause a variety of problems for local communities in the affected areas.
The newly-adopted Sabah State 10-year Elephant Action Plan is laudable but concerted actions from various state government agencies, local communities and plantation owners are needed to achieve its objectives.
It is still fresh in my memory the day I read with teary eyes a news report in 2013 about a baby elephant trying helplessly to wake its dead mother. The mother, one of the 14 elephants found dead at a forest reserve in Sabah’s east coast, was believed to have been poisoned.
Since then, news of Pygmy elephants being found dead in Sabah have been resurfacing, with already five deaths recorded since the beginning of 2020.
One that gripped the nation’s and international attention was the cruel killing last year of a bull elephant, which was found with over 70 bullet wounds in its body and its tusks removed, “Bounty for Pygmy elephant’s killers now at RM30k, thanks to UK-based NGO” (The Star, Oct 1, 2019; online at https://bit.ly/37y11Gd).
Such inhuman acts and the continued assault on Pygmy elephants suggest the culprits’ utter disregard of the law and insolence towards the authorities. Therefore, more serious efforts (rather than words) from all parties to halt such killing and provide better protection for Pygmy elephants are crucial to save the species from extinction.
In order to do this, empowerment of the enforcement agencies, positive community perception and voluntary measures for elephant protection by plantation owners are crucial.
Law enforcement agencies must be empowered both on paper and on the ground. We have seen that the passage of amendments to the state Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 have not prevented the killing of Pygmy elephants so far.
Researchers examining enforcement strategies have found that increasing detection of violations coupled with proper enforcement actions would best improve compliance with wildlife protection laws.
Hence, while their jurisdictions and powers are specified in the enactment, the Wildlife Department and other related enforcement agencies must be empowered further with more manpower as well as better equipment and infrastructure to enforce the law on the ground. The manpower must have strength not only in numbers but also in the capacity to investigate, collate intelligence and gather admissible evidence to ensure successful prosecution.
No matter how many more amendments are made to the law, these are not going to be effective as long as enforcement is weak because legal protection alone will not ensure compliance.
Furthermore, while conflicts are usually focused on the elephants, long-term solutions to the conflicts require altering human behaviour. Law enforcement is important because it is a primary tool for changing human behaviour, apart from education campaigns.
Other than law enforcement, perception of local communities is also important to save the species. Positive perception of Pygmy elephants will provide a long-term solution to human-elephant conflicts. People who recognise the benefits of living near wild elephants are more likely to support their existence in the area. These perceived benefits are not just financial but include knowledge transfer, infrastructure development and feelings of pride from hosting volunteers or satisfaction in doing conservation work, too.
Therefore, there is a need to organise more educational programmes in Sabah that allow communities to benefit from the Pygmy elephants’ presence to instil respect, improve tolerance and ultimately develop positive perception towards the species.
Through such programmes, the local people could work together with NGOs and government agencies to protect important Pygmy elephant range areas or to implement other conflict reduction strategies in their communities.
The current unfortunate case of Pygmy elephants actually presents an opportunity for the private sector, especially plantation companies, in Sabah to show to the international community that they do care about nature conservation. They can adopt any voluntary schemes or measures to reduce conflicts with the Pygmy elephants and protect them.
For those companies that have done so, this is the time to take the lead and strengthen their existing schemes or measures as part of their sustainable agricultural practices.
With only about 1,500 to 2,000 Pygmy elephants left in the wild, impactful action is urgently required from all of us – regulators, the public and private sector – to save the species.
DR MARIANI ARIFFIN
UPM Serdang
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