Thursday, January 31, 2013

RM10,000 for info on elephant killers

Posted by Smookiekins On 1/31/2013 04:13:00 PM

A RM10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and successful conviction of those causing the death of 13 endangered Bornean Pygmy elephants at Yayasan Sabah Conservation area in the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve, Tawau.

The reward is offered by the Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA) Sabah which said the death of the elephants, believed to be caused by poisoning, was a great loss to the state and tourism industry as viewing them in the wild was always the highlight of nature wildlife tours.

MATTA Sabah chairman KL Tan said Bornean elephants were small in numbers and found in isolated pockets and listed as endangered animals. They were indigenous to Borneo and their generic distinctiveness made them one of the highest priority population for Asian Elephants conservation.

“If the shocking death of the Bornean elephants is confirmed to have been due to intentional poisoning, MATTA Sabah would offer a cash reward of RM10,000 for information leading to successful conviction of the culprits,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He urged those with information to contact the joint task force directed by Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Masidi Manjun and consisting of Sabah Wildlife Department, Forestry Department, Yayasan Sabah, WWF and Royal Malaysia Police.

“We urged the public to assist the task force to investigate the matter and to ensure there is no malicious intent on the innocent elephants.

“This cash reward is a positive indication of the travel industry involvement that we are serious in conservation and sustaining Sabah as an eco and wildlife destination,” Tan said.

“MATTA’s contribution is one of the proactive measures to express its interest to the community that we care and the need to protect the Bornean elephants and other endangered wildlife. Conservation of endangered wildlife is for the benefit of our future generation and sustaining tourism growth in Sabah,” he said.

Tan pointed out one of the key factors in Sabah’s flourishing tourism industry is its nature based tourism, which raked in an estimated RM5.178 billion in revenue with 2.8 million tourists in 2012.

The viewing of the Bornean elephants in Lower Kinabatangan, Tabin Wildlife Reserve and Danum Valley is one of the main attractions for UK, Europe, Japanese and Australian tourists to Sabah.

Tourism benefits the whole community due to its spin-off effects and so the community will all lose out if we are not united to conserve our wildlife heritage in Sabah.


Source: Borneo Post

8 comments:

  1. Menurut laporan, semua kematian tersebut berlaku di kawasan hutan yang sedang diubahsuai menjadi kawasan perladangan di dalam hutan simpan kekal itu.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Landskap hutan di Sabah perlu dilindungi sepenuhnya. Semua kelulusan penukaran status perlu dikaji semula oleh Jabatan Perhutanan Sabah dan dinilai bukan semata-mata daripada segi komersial tetapi juga daripada perspektif spesis terancam dan ekologi landskap.

    ReplyDelete
  3. “Penukaran status membawa kepada penerokaan hutan dimana ia akan menyebabkan kehilangan habitat semula jadi bagi kumpulan gajah tersebut, sekali gus memaksa mereka mencari makanan dan habitat alternatif,” tambah Dr Dionysius.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Menurut beliau, penyelesaian jangka panjang yang holistik amat diperlukan untuk menangani dan mengurangkan masalah.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Status gajah perlu dinaikkan kepada status 'dilindungi sepenuhnya' di bawah Bahagian 1 Jadual 1 Enakmen Pemuliharaan Hidupan Liar Sabah, seperti yang dicadangkan dalam Pelan Tindakan Gajah Jabatan Hidupan Liar Sabah 2012-2016, tetapi masih belum dilaksanakan.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rondaan berskala besar dan kerap adalah penting bagi mengelakkan konflik ini daripada berlaku lagi. Walau bagaimanapun, memandangkan kawasan yang memerlukan rondaan ini amat luas, ia merupakan satu tugas yang berat untuk Jabatan Hidupan Liar Sabah.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sumber yang banyak termasuk perkakasan, tenaga manusia dan kewangan harus diperuntukkan bagi Jabatan. Program Warden Kehormat Hidupan Liar yang sedia ada amat berguna dan perlu ianya perlu diperluaskan.

    ReplyDelete
  8. ganjaran ini dikhabarkan di naikkan lagi.

    ReplyDelete

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