THE usual stomping grounds of pygmy elephants in Sabah have become literal death traps due to the setting up of snares and mud pits, as well as residents poisoning and shooting the animal. 

As the government races towards saving the animal from suffering the same fate as the Sumatran rhino, Sabah activists said the ministry in charge was not doing enough to put an end to this inhumane menace.  

This year alone, more than 10 elephants were reportedly killed while dozens were injured by snare traps and from being shot.

In 2016, nine elephants were found stuck inside a 3.3m-deep mud pit for days in the middle of a logging camp in Rinukut, Tawau, on the east coast of Sabah. 

By the time wildlife officers had arrived on the scene, five of the nine elephants were already dead, suggesting the animals had been stuck in the pit for days without food or water. 

Rescuers also had to euthanise two of the elephants as they become too weak and gone blind. 

A few years earlier, several elephants were also found dead on the side of a road due to poisoning at a forest reserve in Tawau. 
 
Many of the deaths recorded over the years were usually found to have occured near forest reserves and oil palm plantations. 

Based on WWF-Malaysia figures, fewer than 1,500 elephants are in Sabah, and the numbers continue to shrink as their range becomes smaller due to fragmented conversion of natural forests to commercial planting, as well as logging and hunting. 

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Christina Liew, meanwhile, has had little to say on the issue, save for stating that the government planned to amend the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 to include a strict liability policy. 

The same proposal was made by the ministry’s former chief, Masidi Manjun, during the previous Barisan Nasional administration. 

“The move will make plantation owners or landowners responsible for the death of any wildlife on their land until they can prove they are innocent,” she had told The Malaysian Insight recently. 

When pressed further, Liew just held out her hands to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Datu Rusmadi Sulai, who vaguely suggested that the ministry planned to “mount a massive operation”. 

He did not elaborate on the operation or its aims, but said he was well aware of the traps set by individuals trying to protect their cash crops. 

Meanwhile, social activist Jeffrey Chang said the authorities were not executing their duties, as evidence for the causes of the deaths were right before them. 

He said only humans could have laid down such traps and caused such immense harm to these animals. 

“If they can’t identify the culprits, then they need more men in the field. The elephants are dying and soon enough, will go extinct.

“Landowners need to be responsible and new rules need to be implemented as current enforcement measures are insufficient,” said Chang, adding the government also needed to strike a balance between saving wildlife and protecting commercial grounds. 

It is believed that those working in Sabah’s plantation sector rely heavily on foreign workers from Indonesia. 

According to Chang, in the case of such tragedies, it is often the commercial enterprises that win out. 

“If the practice continues, it is just a matter of time before Sabah’s pygmy elephants will suffer the same fate as the Bornean Sumatran rhinoceros. We can kiss our elephants goodbye.”  

Sabah only has one surviving female rhinoceros, Puntung, who is suffering from cancer. 

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said no one has been arrested or charged for causing injuries or death to the elephants due to lack of evidence. 

“We carried out thorough investigations but failed to determine the culprit. 

“We met management of plantations and advised them not to lay snare traps along their plantations’ boundaries anymore. 

“Our hope is that there will be no more injuries in the future.” 

He said the department, along with the Forestry Department and WWF, had dismantled most of the snare traps laid along plantation boundaries. – August 18, 2018.