KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah Wildlife Department today denied that it has been keeping deaths of elephants a secret.
Department assistant director Sen Nathan said all elephant deaths are reported to the police, the state Forestry Department and the Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry.
“We also informed the cases to stakeholders, including the relevant non-government organisations and palm oil plantation companies.
“Hence, I was shocked to find an anonymous wildlife expert and conservationist claiming that we don’t reveal the cases,” he said.
Nathan was referring to a report from The Vibes in which two individuals claimed that the department was keeping mum over elephant deaths, and that the press are only informed after they appear on social media.
“The anonymous individuals also suggested that the department is intentionally withholding information so as not to tarnish our image. This is not true. We have been very open with stakeholders.
“At times, we may not be able to broadcast the details of an elephant’s death case because it may jeopardise the investigation, but we ensure that all stakeholders and related government agencies are informed,” he said.
“To be exact, it is 80 elephants from 2018 to 2020; 2018 (32 cases); 2019 (25 cases); 2020 (23 cases). 4 elephant deaths have been recorded this year to date, all in plantations in Sabah’s east coast.
“In the last 10 years (2010 to 2020), there were 176 cases. Half of them died of suspected poisoning or shot while the rest died of natural causes.”
Nathan, who is also manager of the Wildlife Rescue Unit under the department’s purview, said it is true there is an increase of human and wildlife conflict for the past 10 years.
He said all the elephant deaths took place in palm oil estates or on plantations close to a forest reserve.
He added that for elephant deaths from suspected poisoning, the department was facing obstacles in determining the lethal substances used.
“We have been planning to work with the National Poison Centre (in Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang) as the team would be able to help us with the investigation, but a lot of our plans were halted due to the pandemic.
“If we were able to determine the chemical that caused the deaths, we could determine whether it was of criminal intent or unintentional poisoning. If it is unintentional, we can have steps to avoid similar incidents from happening.” – The Vibes, January 28, 2021
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