The Star, Malaysia : Ministry to decide on export of Borneo elephants

Friday, October 03, 2003

Ministry to decide on export of Borneo elephants

BY MUGUNTAN VANAR AND RUBEN SARIO

KOTA KINABALU: A final decision on whether a dozen Borneo pygmy elephants can be sent to foreign zoos hinges on approval from the Science, Technology and Environment Ministry, said Sabah Wildlife Department deputy director Laurentius Ambu.

He said an application to export the elephants to China was forwarded through the department to the ministry’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and of Flora and Fauna (CITES) science authority a few months ago.

“I do not know if any approval has been given yet. We have more or less agreed to the application but it depends on the scientific panel under the ministry to give the final decision,” he said on Wednesday.

Ambu did not give reasons why the department had agreed to the export of the endangered animals but indicated that many wildlife species, including the elephants, had been displaced due to pressures of development.

“Our Tabin Forest Reserve (where displaced wildlife are transferred) is full. We have to search for new places,” he said, adding that the department was holding various conservation seminars to see how best to resolve the problems facing Sabah’s protected species.

He was commenting on a report in The Star that the elephants were bound for zoos in China and Japan after they had been allegedly captured by a private animal trader.

Wildlife officials and environmentalists in Sabah estimate there are about 1,100 to 1,500 Borneo pygmy elephants, which were recently confirmed as a new sub-species found mainly in the east coast of Sabah.

The Wildlife Department has an understanding with a private animal breeder who provides “rescue and training” for displaced animals in Sikuati, in Kudat district, and the elephants bound for foreign zoos are being kept in the breeder’s park pending the ministry’s approval.

A local official said that although Sabah had its own CITES management committee, the application was forwarded to the ministry's panel as it was the overall authority.

In Dengkil, Deputy Science, Technology and Environment Minister Datuk Zainal Dahalan said the Government normally did not encourage export of endangered animals unless there was an exchange programme with zoos.