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The Star 8 Sep 19; TEMERLOH: The government will set up an elephant sanctuary in an area spanning 100ha in Perak at a cost of about RM20mil. Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar said the move was part of an ongoing effort to conserve elephants, which were increasingly threatened due to human-elephant conflicts. He said the new sanctuary would be a new addition to the Sungai Deka Elephant Sanctuary in Terengganu and the Johor Elephant Sanctuary in Kota Tinggi. �The Federal Government, in collaboration with the Perak government, has approved the proposal for the construction of the new sanctuary, which will be implemented under the 12th Malaysia Plan,� he said after launching the 2019 World Elephant Day celebration at the Kuala Gandah National Elephant Conservation Centre yesterday. Also present were his deputy Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji, Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim and Exim Bank chairm...

Roy Goh New Straits Times 5 Sep 19; KOTA KINABALU: Elephants in Sabah are evolving to lose their tusks to survive, a phenomenon that is also happening in other parts of the world. Sightings of such tusk-less bull Bornean pygmy elephants are getting more common and a senior veterinarian believes more research needs to be done on the phenomenon and its implications. Sabah Wildlife department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan said it used to be rare, seeing a tusk-less male, but these days it's becoming common. "I have been involved in trans-locating elephants for more than 20 years and other senior colleagues dealt with the animal longer, more than 30 years, and now, we see this phenomenon becoming more common. "Seeing elephants with tusks measuring close to two metres was common before but not these days. "Heavy poaching pressure seems to have caused the Bornean elephants to lose their tusks," Sen said. "This is something we would like to analyse further and...

Antara 3 Sep 19; Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA) - Few wild elephants fled their habitats, entering residential areas after wildfires spread through the Tesso Nilo National Park, Riau Province, for the past week, the Natural Resources Conservation Office (BBKSDA) stated here, Tuesday. Riau BBKSDA Chief Andi Hansen Siregar remarked that the national park's rangers had conducted monitoring of the movement of wild Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) from the rainforest to Bongkal Malang Village in Indragiri Hulu District. Following a tip-off from villagers, two wild Sumatran elephants were spotted roaming around the plantation areas. "Some secondary traces, such as dirt and footprints, were found. These elephants had roamed for two days," Siregar stated. An initial identification launched by the rangers indicated that one of the wild animals was an adult male Sumatran elephant that had allegedly destroyed the villager's palm plantation. Despite detection of their t...

MOHD FARHAAN SHAH The Star 22 Aug 19; JOHOR BARU: The Johor Elephant Sanctuary (JES) will be beneficial to both the largest land animal in South-East Asia and humans as it is designed to reduce conflicts between them. State Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) director Salman Saaban said the 57.23ha land, located near Kampung Panti in Kota Tinggi, was expected to be completed this year. �Elephants are migratory animals and in Johor, they have been found moving within four districts - Kota Tinggi, Kluang, Mersing and Segamat. �The department has identified five elephant groups and their numbers are between 120 and 140 elephants, roaming around in our jungle, � he said. Salman added that the department has always been keeping a close watch on the elephants and three units of satellite collars were placed on elephants from the major groups. He said the main purpose of having the sanctuary was to strengthen elephant management in the state, which would lessen the problem...

Mohd Rafi Mamat New Straits Times 21 Aug 19; PEKAN: A herd of elephants including a young calf were rescued after getting trapped in an abandoned mud pit at the Ibam forest reserve near Runchang, here, yesterday. Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) rangers took about four hours to dig a path and chase the elephants to climb out of a steep mud pit which is believed to be an abandoned gold mining site. State Perhilitan director Rozidan Md Yasin said the Orang Asli community who lived nearby had stumbled upon the animals stuck in the pit at about noon and immediately alerted the department. He said four rangers were deployed to the scene and they sought help from a mining company operator in the vicinity to help bring the animals out. "An excavator was brought to help dig out a path to form a ramp to allow the animals to climb out of the pit. It took some four hours to complete the task. "Once completed, the elephants managed to climb out of the pit before walki...

The Star 21 Aug 19; GUA MUSANG: A family of seven Orang Asli were in fear of a wild elephant that kept walking around their house in Kampung Aring 5, here. Fortunately for the family, the animal left without incident an hour after first arriving early yesterday morning. It was seen entering the nearby jungle. Villager Hussin Selik, 51, said this was the second such incident in two weeks. The elephant, he said, entered the village at 3am yesterday. Hussin said he started to worry for his family when the elephant circled his house before leaving. We heard a loud roar and saw the elephant outside our window but luckily it left, he said. Hussin said the animal had destroyed 50 banana trees that was planted by his neighbours and him. Kampung Aring 5 Community Management Council chairman Asrul Hussin, 31, said the wild elephants threat in the village was not new and had occurred several times this year. He said the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) was aware but had yet...

Singapore�s ivory ban is a win for conservation but we must double down on wider conservation efforts, says WWF-Singapore�s Kim Stengert. Kim Stengert Channel NewsAsia 17 Aug 19; SINGAPORE: This week marked the end of a long wait for Singapore to stop the sale of ivory and ivory products and a victory for those working to put this in place. Over the last six months, Singapore authorities seized an unprecedented amount of 38 tonnes of pangolin scales and almost 10 tonnes of elephant ivory worth more than S$170 million - with some close to the largest seizures the world has seen. Led by the National Parks Board (NParks), these acts of enforcement were a true testament of the country�s zero-tolerance to illegal wildlife trade. Just two days after the most recent seizure of 15 baskets containing 815 birds over the National Day weekend, Singapore announced the latest highlight of our fight against illegal wildlife trade: An ivory ban. THE WORK IS FAR FROM COMPLETE It is generally estimated...

Malavika Menon Straits Times 12 Aug 19; SINGAPORE - Singapore will ban the domestic trade of elephant ivory from Sept 1, 2021, the National Parks Board (NParks) said on Monday (Aug 12). The sale of elephant ivory and ivory products as well as the public display of such products for the purpose of selling them will be prohibited in Singapore once the ban comes into effect. The ban highlights Singapore's resolve in the fight against the illegal trade in species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), said NParks. Singapore is a signatory to Cites, under which international trade in elephant ivory has been banned since 1990. Once the ban is in effect, traders can donate their stock to institutions for educational purposes or keep them. NParks said it will continue to work with traders to ensure a smooth transition. "Public display of elephant ivory or ivory products for educational or religious purposes will conti...