KOTA KINABALU, Feb 20 — A male Borneo pygmy elephant attacked and injured a woman in a village in Sabah’s interior region of Telupid yesterday, highlighting a rising problem of conflicts between local wildlife and human settlements, according to a state wildlife expert.
Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan said the attack was a “serious human-elephant conflict” that is uncharacteristic of the pachyderm, especially since they are a common sight in the village of Kampung Gambaron where the incident happened.
It is understood that Justina Ompang, 57, was walking to work with her husband, Khunyan Basimah, 40, at around 6.20am when they came across the lone 7-and-a-half feet (2.2 metre) tall bull elephant standing by the side of the road.
The couple continued walking as they expected it to retreat back to the forest as they typically do when crossing paths with humans.
“But on that morning, instead of running away, it charged at them and started using its trunk to hit Justina,” Sen said.
“Her husband started shouting to distract the elephant and this worked, as the elephant immediately stopped attacking the wife and ran back into the forested area,” he said, adding that she was taken for emergency treatment at the Telupid Hospital which confirmed she suffered shock and minor bruising on her upper torso.
Sen said there has been a trend of human-elephant conflicts in the Telupid district over the past two months, with over 30 elephants from four different groups having thrashed crops and damaged vehicles in at least four villages.
“Sabah Wildlife Department and the Wildlife Rescue Unit personnel have been working round the clock conducting elephant control operations, trying to chase away the elephants back into the forest and protecting the villagers,” he said.
Sen noted that they will likely have no choice but to carry out a “capture and translocation programme” for the rampaging elephants.
The programme will be costly, at between RM20,000 to RM30,000 per animal, but necessary to keep the villagers safe, he added.
Department director William Baya said there has been a rapid increase in such conflicts due to diminishing elephant habitats in Sabah’s central and south-eastern regions encompassing Sandakan, Kinabatangan, Beluran, Lahad Datu, Tawau and Nabawan.
He said the upsurge in human-elephant conflicts was likely due to the increased fragmentation and nett loss of suitable elephant habitat due to development, coupled with an increase in elephant population with an estimated 2,000 of the animals statewide.
“Translocating them to other areas does not serve as permanent solution as we have documented proof that the same elephants that we have translocated have actually made their way back to cause more conflict in the same area that we had previously caught them.
“We will be working with other stakeholders, namely Sabah Forestry Department, the Telupid District Office and environmental NGOS to come up with a sound solution to solve this issue once and for all,” William said.
