SANDAKAN – The Sabah government is mulling a third electrified fence in Telupid to avoid elephants from entering the villages there.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said this comes after a Borneo pygmy elephant strayed into a bungalow in Telupid.
He added that the government is planning to put up a 1.7km electric fence in the area, in addition to two existing fences – one in Kg Bauto (3km) and another in Kg Gambaron (2.9km).
He said the two existing fences have reduced incidents of elephant intrusion in villages, as none were reported from the end of 2019 to early this year.
However, he said the incident that happened in the bungalow recently is because the electric fences are no longer working after its solar panels were stolen.
Jafry said this when attending a briefing on elephant conflict mitigation in Telupid recently.
On Monday, villagers were shocked when an adult elephant strayed into a bungalow in Kg Gambaron II around midnight.
It was learned that the elephant came from the Tawai forest reserve bordering the bungalow.
Sandakan Wildlife Department officer Hussein Muin said no casualties were reported from the incident and the elephant did not stay long at the bungalow before returning to the forest.
Following the incident, Jafry said he hopes the government will consider providing an annual allocation to fund the operation and maintenance of the existing electric fences.
He urged the public not to steal the solar panels as it would lead to problems for the local community when elephants stray into villages.
For the time being, Jafry said the Sabah Wildlife Department, the Community Elephant Ranger Team, police, and several non-governmental organisations have been working together to locate the elephant.
He added that the ministry will look into developing tourism activities based on wildlife conservation in Telupid, confident that it will bring economic benefits to the locals.
“To ensure that such ideas can be realised, we need the cooperation from all parties to solve the human-elephant conflict.” – The Vibes, September 17, 2022
