KOTA KINABALU: The powers that be must take into account the needs of the Bornean pygmy elephants in all their development plans now that the animal has been officially recognised as an endangered species internationally, said an expert.
Dr Nurzhafarina Othman said the Bornean elephant was classified as such under the updated International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species on Wednesday (June 26).
The Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) senior lecturer said the updated list also recognised the Bornean elephant as a sub-species of the bigger Asian elephant.
She said the Bornean elephant had no specific status before this, adding it adopted the endangered classification only formally given to its Asian continent cousins prior to the refreshed list.
“Now, all sub-species have their own species status,” she said, when contacted on Saturday (June 29).
“What does this mean? This highlights the urgent need to consider the needs of these elephants in all development planning,” said Nurzhafarina, who also leads the elephant conservation NGO Seratu Aatai.
With the newly obtained status, she said, everyone must now “walk the talk”.
“While we often blame the oil palm industry for habitat encroachment, we must also recognise the significant impact of other developments and mining activities.
“It's time to take recommendations seriously and act on them,” she stressed.
Nurzhafarina said efforts must also be exerted at managing elephants at the landscape level, rather than focusing on individual villages or plantations.
“This is crucial. All stakeholders need to communicate and bersatu hati (unite) to reach a consensus and protect these majestic creatures,” she added.
According to the IUCN Red List, the population of Bornean elephants currently stands at 1,000, with about 400 being breeding adults.
This is far less than the 1,500 estimated by government officials and experts before.
Most of the elephants are found in Sabah while a small population exists in neighbouring Kalimantan, Indonesia.
According to a report on the IUCN website, a group of scientists and conservationists from all over the world has “identified the Borneo population of Asian elephants as a distinct subspecies requiring special protection”.
Vivek Menon, chairman of the IUCN Special Survival Commission (SSC) Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG), was quoted as saying that the assessment of the threat to the Bornean elephant should spur conservation efforts by Malaysia and Indonesia, with direct conservation focus to it in terms of resources and science.
“I am pleased that key members of the AsESG have catalysed the listing of the Bornean elephant on the IUCN Red List for the very first time.
“This range-restricted taxon has never been listed before,” Menon said.
