“Our elephants are at risk of extinction, which is a significant warning for us. We need to act quickly to protect them,” state tourism, culture and environment minister Christina Liew said today, Bernama reported.
“We urge everyone to join hands with the state government to protect our very own gentle giants,” she said.
Liew said the ministry would hold discussions on the corridor project with the wildlife department to expedite its implementation. “I don’t want it to be delayed until next year or beyond,” she said. “It is our responsibility to protect our very own Bornean elephant,” she said at a press conference here.
The Bornean elephant, Elephas maximus borneensis, was classified as endangered and placed on the IUCN Red List because of its small and declining population. A wildlife expert said the classification meant the elephant was at risk of extinction. There are approximately 1,000 Bornean elephants, with about 400 being breeding adults, IUCN said.
The Bornean elephant, also known as the Borneo pygmy elephant, is a subspecies of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). It is native to Sabah and parts of Kalimantan, Indonesia, and are distinguished by their smaller size, with males reaching around 2.5 metres in height.
Liew said the elephant corridor was a key initiative of the state’s elephant action plan from 2020 to 2029.
Generous Sabahans had donated land for the corridor project, and the wildlife department has appointed experts to plant Napier grass, a species of grass that is a favourite of the Bornean elephant. Liew said efforts are being made to plant this grass over a large area in Kinabatangan, the main habitat of the elephants.
“This will help avoid human-elephant conflicts. If elephants know where to find food along the Kinabatangan River in the designated elephant corridor, they will be less likely to enter oil palm plantations or villages,” she said.
Once the corridor is established along the Kinabatangan River, it will take about six months to a year to resolve the conflicts between humans and elephants in that area.
She said the creation of the elephant corridor will also become a new attraction for tourism projects, as the Kinabatangan area is already well-known to foreigners who visit the area for its wildlife, such as orangutans, crocodiles and proboscis monkeys.