A new home awaits elephants which have been displaced from their natural habitat.
WITH an increasing number of wild elephants being displaced from their forested habitat or injured by snares, a rescue centre is badly needed to shelter these animals.
Such a facility, the Borneo Elephant Wildlife Sanctuary, will soon open in the district of Kinabatangan in the east coast of Sabah.
Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) director Dr Laurentius Ambu says the 22,000ha facility will house orphaned, displaced or injured Borneo pygmy elephants which have been rescued, with the ultimate goal of translocating the animals back to their natural habitat.
The pygmy elephant, smaller than their peninsula counterpart, is endemic to Borneo. With the population in Sabah down to some 2,000, the species is considered endangered in the state and was last month upgraded to the “totally protected” status. (In Peninsular Malaysia, the elephant is already a totally protected animal.)
Ambu says 60% of the elephants in Sabah are located outside protected areas, in places such as plantations and isolated forest patches, and can no longer follow their traditional migration routes.
“So you can see how important the sanctuary is for elephants that are outside protected areas. We may not be able to accommodate all of them, but we will try to bring in elephants which are injured and eventually release them back into the wild once they are healthy,” he told reporters after the opening of the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Colloquium in Kota Kinabalu last month.
He says the centre can accommodate about 20 elephants at any one time but it is estimated that some 60 to 100 elephants need to be translocated as their present roaming grounds are too small or there are conflicts between humans and elephants.
The setting up of the elephant sanctuary will cost an estimated RM15mil to RM20mil. It has been given a kickstart with RM5mil from the Malaysian Palm Oil Wildlife Conservation Fund and another RM1.5mil from a foreign conservation group, Borneo Conservation Trust Japan. It will have a rescue facility, a research and education division, and staff for rescue and translocation operations. Work on the centre has started, and soil surveys and levelling of land have been carried out.
The new elephant sanctuary will complement the work of SWD rangers at the existing Wildlife Rescue Unit based at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park in Kota Kinabalu. Set up through a joint initiative with Shangri-la Rasa Ria and Malaysian Palm Oil Council, the Rescue Unit has been involved in wildlife rescue and translocation operations throughout the state to reduce incidences of human-animal conflict which often result in the animals being killed. Elephant rescue is one of its key activities.
Says SWD chief veterinarian Dr Senthilvel Nathan: “The elephant situation in Sabah is critical, with only about 2,000 left, and many are displaced, orphaned and injured. There are many cases of injuries due to snares. As efforts to identify and establish corridors (to connect fragmented forest patches) are part of a long-term solution, rescue work is important.”
To rescue the elephants, funds are needed as the cost of translocating one elephant is between RM30,000 and RM40,000.
Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Brighter future for Borneo Pygmy Elephants
.WITH an increasing number of wild elephants being displaced from their forested habitat or injured by snares, a rescue centre is badly needed to shelter these animals.
Such a facility, the Borneo Elephant Wildlife Sanctuary, will soon open in the district of Kinabatangan in the east coast of Sabah.
Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) director Dr Laurentius Ambu says the 22,000ha facility will house orphaned, displaced or injured Borneo pygmy elephants which have been rescued, with the ultimate goal of translocating the animals back to their natural habitat.
The pygmy elephant, smaller than their peninsula counterpart, is endemic to Borneo. With the population in Sabah down to some 2,000, the species is considered endangered in the state and was last month upgraded to the “totally protected” status. (In Peninsular Malaysia, the elephant is already a totally protected animal.)
Ambu says 60% of the elephants in Sabah are located outside protected areas, in places such as plantations and isolated forest patches, and can no longer follow their traditional migration routes.
“So you can see how important the sanctuary is for elephants that are outside protected areas. We may not be able to accommodate all of them, but we will try to bring in elephants which are injured and eventually release them back into the wild once they are healthy,” he told reporters after the opening of the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Colloquium in Kota Kinabalu last month.
He says the centre can accommodate about 20 elephants at any one time but it is estimated that some 60 to 100 elephants need to be translocated as their present roaming grounds are too small or there are conflicts between humans and elephants.
The setting up of the elephant sanctuary will cost an estimated RM15mil to RM20mil. It has been given a kickstart with RM5mil from the Malaysian Palm Oil Wildlife Conservation Fund and another RM1.5mil from a foreign conservation group, Borneo Conservation Trust Japan. It will have a rescue facility, a research and education division, and staff for rescue and translocation operations. Work on the centre has started, and soil surveys and levelling of land have been carried out.
The new elephant sanctuary will complement the work of SWD rangers at the existing Wildlife Rescue Unit based at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park in Kota Kinabalu. Set up through a joint initiative with Shangri-la Rasa Ria and Malaysian Palm Oil Council, the Rescue Unit has been involved in wildlife rescue and translocation operations throughout the state to reduce incidences of human-animal conflict which often result in the animals being killed. Elephant rescue is one of its key activities.
Says SWD chief veterinarian Dr Senthilvel Nathan: “The elephant situation in Sabah is critical, with only about 2,000 left, and many are displaced, orphaned and injured. There are many cases of injuries due to snares. As efforts to identify and establish corridors (to connect fragmented forest patches) are part of a long-term solution, rescue work is important.”
To rescue the elephants, funds are needed as the cost of translocating one elephant is between RM30,000 and RM40,000.
Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Brighter future for Borneo Pygmy Elephants
.
No comments:
Post a Comment