Four Borneo pygmy elephants died in the last five weeks in the east coast, with one occurring in Kinabatangan last Sunday. The carcass was found floating in the Kinabatangan River, its front toes apparently cut off.
Bung, who has a reputation for controversial remarks, especially in Parliament, was saddened by the deaths, saying the killings had been going on for decades.
He said there would be no end to the problem if the elephant-human conflict dilemma was not addressed properly.
He said while he was worried about the rate of elephant deaths and killings, he also sympathised with villagers in his constituency, such as those in Kampung Bilit, Kampung Sukau and Kampung Abai, whose crops were always targeted by elephants.
“Sometimes, a herd of 60 to 100 elephants would attack at the same time. You can imagine the anger if the crops are your only source of income and they are destroyed.
“But I always tell the villagers not to surrender to their emotions to the extent of harming the elephants. These animals do not know any better,” he told FMT.
Bung said the elephants were being pushed out from their natural habitats to look for food elsewhere because of the fast-depleting resources in the forest.
Among the factors for the jump in elephant deaths was the opening of vast lands for oil palm plantations, he said.
As such, the Sabah Umno chief urged the state government, through the Sabah Wildlife Department, to look for a “solid solution”, adding the situation could spiral out of control if no viable answer was found soon.
“Maybe, what the department could do is follow what is done in India and Thailand where wild elephants are domesticated to help the people,” he said.
Another would be to find a location which could reduce the possibility of the animals coming into settled areas, although he acknowledged this would be almost impossible.
“It has become a monthly routine for villagers in Kinabatangan, Lahad Datu and Tawau to find these elephants coming into their villages.
“But I will repeat my advice to the villagers that they should not take matters into their own hands. If this goes on, the elephants will go extinct. Just report to the wildlife authorities if such things happen.”
Bung reminded the people that elephants were protected under state laws, and those caught killing them would be prosecuted, regardless of whether they claimed the elephants had intruded into their land.
“Elephants are also a tourism product in Kinabatangan and a source of income for villagers. They should do their best to protect these creatures, which are Allah’s blessings to us,” he said.
The bull elephant found floating in the Kinabatangan River last Sunday was believed to have been killed by poachers. A post-mortem found that the toes on the front feet had been cut off. The whole head, with its tusks, was missing.
Before that, a calf was believed to have drowned on Friday after being pinned down by larger elephants trying to escape a mud-filled ditch at an oil palm plantation in Lahad Datu.
On Sept 23, a bull elephant was found with over 70 bullet holes in its body in Kalabakan, Tawau, and on Oct 20, an elephant was found dead at an oil palm plantation in Beluran with its tusks sawn off.
Meanwhile, Sabah will host a meeting of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group — a global network concerned with the study, monitoring, management and conservation of Asian elephants —next month.
Experts from around the world are expected to attend the meeting from Dec 4 to 6.