Anonymous donor gives 10-tonne truck to Sabah Wildlife Dept for elephant rescue

2020-09-21 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Avila Geraldine

The Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) received a surprise asset boost when an anonymous individual donated a 10-tonne truck, to help in its efforts to save the Bornean elephants. The Nissan truck, fully-equipped with an 8-ton crane, was handed over to the department director Augustine Tuuga by representatives of Tan Chong Motors at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park, near here.

 Read more

Killing jumbo a step backwards

2016-11-23 - Kota Kinabalu, Indonesia.

WWF-Malaysia has frowned on the State Wildlife Department´s killing of a bull elephant in Tawau in a Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) as it impacts the shrinking population of Sabah´s pachyderms. The Department confirmed that the culled bull was in musth, a period where male elephants are known to exhibit aggressive behaviour and, consequently, are susceptible to provocation.

 Read more

Sabah Wildlife concerned over rising number of orphaned baby elephants

2016-02-27 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia.

The increasing number of orphaned baby Bornean elephants being rescued from plantations near forest reserves is worrying the Sabah Wildlife Department.
The fact that the baby elephants were found wandering alone was an indication that the adult animals including their mothers had been killed.

 Read more

Alarm over elephant inbreeding in Sabah

2016-02-26 - Kota Kinabalu , Malaysia.

Experts believe that the state’s 2,500 Bornean elephants were at risk of inbreeding in fragmented areas of its jungles as they are unable to meet elephants from other parts to mate and strengthen their gene pool.

 Read more

Orphaned calf Joe doing well

2013-07-11 - Kota Kinabalu, Indonesia.

Baby elephant Joe, the sole survivor of a poisoning that killed a herd of 14 Borneo pygmy elephants, is out of the woods. The calf has gained weight and is now socialising with other elephants at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park here. “He is very healthy and has gained over 100kg in the past few months, from 90kg when we rescued him, to almost 200kg now,” said Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan.

 Read more

Orphaned elephant calf Joe is healthy and well in Sabah Zoo

2013-04-20 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

It was heart-wrenching looking at the picture of an elephant calf forlornly tugging at its dead mother last January at Gunung Rara. The elephant calf, who has since been given the name Kejora (after the plantation where it was found) and nicknamed Joe by his caretakers, is healthy and well – all thanks to the love and care of staff and namely one special person, his preferred caretaker, Augustine David. “Joe is active and naughty, just like any other child,” said Augustine, wh...

 Read more

Borneo pygmy elephant death tests lay blame on unidentified toxin

2013-04-20 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

After three months, officials still don´t know for certain what killed at least 14 Bornean elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis) in the Malaysian state of Sabah. However tests do indicate that the herd perished from a "caustic intoxicant," possibly ingested accidentally or just as easily intentionally poisoned. A distinct subspecies, Bornean elephants are the world´s smallest with a population that has fallen to around 2,000 on the island.

 Read more

Borneo elephants now classified as totally protected species

2012-01-15 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

Those who kill Borneo elephants will now face a mandatory jail term as part of Sabah´s efforts to upgrade its conservation of the animal. State Tourism, Culture and En­­vironment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said the elephant was classified as a totally protected species under its wildlife laws. "This means that as far as our elephants are concerned, if you kill, you go to jail," he said when closing a wildlife conference here yesterday.

 Read more

Borneo elephants now classified as totally protected species

2012-01-11 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

Those who kill Borneo elephants will now face a mandatory jail term as part of Sabah´s efforts to upgrade its conservation of the animal. State Tourism, Culture and En­­vironment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said the elephant was classified as a totally protected species under its wildlife laws. "This means that as far as our elephants are concerned, if you kill, you go to jail," he said when closing a wildlife conference here yesterday. The conference was jointly organised by the state&...

 Read more

New wildlife haven for Sabah.2,000ha abode is for elephants and other animals driven from their habitat

2012-01-10 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

A BORNEO Elephant Wildlife Sanctuary will be established on a 2,000-hectare site in Kinabatangan as a refuge for elephants and other wildlife affected by land clearance activities in Sabah. The MoU was one of the five signed during the opening ceremony of the two-day Sabah Wildlife Conservation Colloquium 2012, which was launched by Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.

 Read more

Sanctuary For Rescued Pygmy Elephants To Begin This Year

2012-01-09 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

A sanctuary for the rehabilitation of rescued Borneo pygmy elephants is expected to be operational in the middle of this year. Sabah Wildlife Director Dr Laurentius Ambu said 2,000 hectares of land has been reserved for the sanctuary, known as the Borneo Elephant Wildlife Sanctuary, in Kinabatangan. "We will keep the animals there for treatment and then we will release them back into the wild," he told reporters after the opening of the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Colloquium 2012 here Monday.

 Read more

Australian woman killed by Borneo elephant

2011-12-08 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

Jenna O´Grady Donley, 26, a Sydney-based veterinarian, was attacked by the elephant yesterday, Malaysian newspaper The Star reported. The animal was apparently startled by the sounds of a camera´s shutter and flash. Witnesses said that she could not escape in time as the elephant suddenly charged at her while her female companion and guide escaped in the attack at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah.

 Read more

Borneo Pygmy elephant Rocco suddenly sickens and dies

2011-02-26 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia.

An endangered Borneo Pygmy elephant, Rocco, has died in captivity at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park here. Rocco, reportedly about 27 years old, died at 3.30am on Monday, hardly 24-hours after it showed signs of weakness that was treated with emergency intravenous and subcutaneous fluid therapy.

 Read more

Beauty, elephant draw crowd as wildlife park celebrates World Animal Day

2010-10-04 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

The Lok Kawi Wildlife Park did not miss out on the World Animal Day 2010 celebrations as it held a special open day which featured the newly rescued baby Bornean Elephant named Huminodun, and Unduk Ngadau 2010 Crystel Eve Huminodun William Majimbun.

 Read more

Rangers rescue two Borneo Pygmy elephants

2010-09-12 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

Wildlife rangers rescued two endangered Borneo Pygmy elephants which had wandered into a plantation area in the east coast of Tawau. After tracking their movements through footprints for nearly a week, Sabah Wildlife Department rangers led by chief veterinarian Dr Sen Nathan spotted the jumbos near the Felda Umas plantation about 70km from Tawau town on the first day of Hari Raya.

 Read more

Rescued baby elephant doing well — Veterinarian

2010-05-24 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

The six-month old female elephant rescued from the Ladang Felcra /KTS in Lahad Datu last week is doing well, Sabah Wildlife Department senior veterinary officer Dr Sen Nathan said. Dr Sen who heads the departments Wildlife Rescue Unit said the baby elephant was rescued in the nick of time and if the discovery was made a few hours later, it would have been fatal for the pachyderm.

 Read more

Baby jumbo on brink of death saved

2010-05-23 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

A baby elephant on the brink of death was rescued in the east coast district of Lahad Datu. Weak and dehydrated, the female calf appeared to have been abandoned when found by the wildlife rescue unit of the Sabah Wildlife Department last week. Now recuperating at the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary in Sandakan, the department is keeping its fingers crossed that the calf responds well to treatment and its new surroundings.

 Read more

Sabah relocates elephant away from people

2010-02-27 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

A young male Bornean elephant was recently relocated from the Sabah east coast to the Lok Kawi Wildlife Centre to prevent conflicts with human population that has encroached on the habitat of Sabah’s remaining 1,500 elephants, the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) said. The SWD said although Sabah retains about 49 per cent of its permanent forest cover and is the second biggest state in Malaysia, a lack of habitat for its unique wildlife is leading to more human elephant conflicts.

 Read more

Sabah"s wildlife lures Jack Hannah

2009-10-22 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

Zoologist and television personality Jack Hanna is here with his film crew to capture Sabah's pygmy elephants, sun bears and orang utan on film to be shown in the Into the Wild television programme in the US to heighten the world's awareness of the animals. The famed Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, was pleased with the warm welcome he, his wife, daughter and film crew received and would be here for six days.

 Read more

Many jumbo casualties

2008-10-12 - Kota Kinabalu, Indonesia.

A growing number of elephants in the State are ending up injured or dead due to human-animal conflicts and this is worrying the Wildlife Department. Its Director, Laurentius Ambu, said a young elephant was found dead from unknown causes in early September. "But we have a bigger issue of elephants getting injured mostly due to man-made snares, then dying from their injuries," he said, in a statement. These traps are usually set by oil palm plantation workers who struggle for additional income by ...

 Read more

Probe into elephant"s death

2008-09-20 - KOTA KINABALU, United States. Jaswinder Kaur

The death of a male Borneo Pygmy elephant near a jungle resort in the Kinabatangan district early this month has sparked an investigation by the Sabah Wildlife Department. The department is probing the cause of death of the elephant, estimated to be about two years old. Its carcass showed no visible injuries. The department's officer-in-charge in Kota Kinabatangan, Roland Nuin, received information about the dead elephant on Sept 2 and sent a team to the scene.

 Read more

Extinct Javan elephants may have been found again - in Borneo

2008-04-17 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

The Borneo pygmy elephant may not be native to Borneo after all. Instead, the population could be the last survivors of the Javan elephant race – accidentally saved from extinction by the Sultan of Sulu centuries ago, a new publication suggests. The origins of the pygmy elephants, found in a range extending from the north-east of the island into the Heart of Borneo, have long been shrouded in mystery. Their looks and behaviour differ from other Asian elephants and scientists have questioned wh...

 Read more

New bundles of joy at Lok Kawi Wildlife Park: the birth of a Borneo Pygmy elephant

2008-02-04 - Kota Kinabalu, Brunei Darussalam.

It was a busy week at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park with the birth of a Proboscis monkey and a Borneo Pygmy elephant. The monkey was born on Wednesday and the elephant on Friday. The two births were also a milestone for the park as it was the first time in the world that a pygmy elephant had been born in captivity and the second time for a Proboscis monkey. Both newborns are in good health with staff keeping an eye on them round the clock for the next two weeks.

 Read more

Run along, but we will be watching you

2007-03-26 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia.

Raymond Alfred, project manager for World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysias Sorel project said elephant corridors might be the answer to reducing conflicts with elephants. The latest case involved an adult male elephant caught at a plantation in Kinabatangan over the weekend. It was collared and released into the sanctuary.

 Read more

Crop raider elephant collared in K"tangan

2007-03-23 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

A male elephant, estimated to be 55-60 years of age, was captured and collared in Gomantong Plantation, Lower Kinabatangan, last Sunday before it was released into Lot 6 of Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. This is the second elephant collared using the GSM collar done by the Sabah Wildlife Department and WWF-Malaysia as part of the Bornean Biodiversity and Ecosystems Conservation (BBEC) activities, which advocates sustainable approaches for the conservation of endangered biodiversity and ecosyst...

 Read more

Don"t shoot at jumbos fleeing floods

2007-01-11 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

Oil palm smallholders in the Kinabatangan and Segama areas have been advised not to shoot at elephants encroaching into their land to seek shelter, following the destruction of their habitat by floods. Sabah's Honorary Wildlife Warden, Datuk Wilfred Lingham, said the smallholders should contact the nearest wildlife officers as they know best how to prevent the elephants from causing further damage to their crops.

 Read more

Sabah Zoo in Lok Kawi expecting first captive born pygmy elephant

2006-10-17 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Daily Express

The Sabah Zoological and Botanical Park in Lok Kawi, 25km from here, is expecting the first birth of a Borneo pygmy elephant by a captive jumbo in 16 months. State Wildlife Department Deputy Director, Laurentius N. Ambu said the cow elephant was now into her sixth-month of pregnancy. "We have to monitor the progress of the elephant pregnancy. God willing, if she is healthy we will have the first captive born baby elephant in 16 months," he said at a mock cheque presentation-cum-launching of the ...

 Read more

Two elephants near plantation relocated

2005-10-04 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia.

Two elephants which had been living in the forest next to a plantation in Tawau for the last three months were successfully relocated after a four-day operation. NstKiosk The two bulls were released three days ago at the Kuamut forest reserve in Kinabatangan. The relocation headed off a potential conflict between the elephants and humans. The elephants, one in its mid-teens and the other in its early 20s, had been foraging near houses.

 Read more

Take steps now to save pygmy elephants

2005-06-16 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia. RUBEN SARIO

Sabah will continue losing its Borneo pygmy elephants unless it takes concrete measures to protect the animals. These steps, Sabah honorary wildlife ranger Datuk Wilfred Lingham said, included the establishment of a wildlife corridor by rehabilitating riverine forests along Sungai Kinabatangan, where the elephants’ habitats were shrinking as oil palm plantations continued to expand.

 Read more

Pygmy elephants may be relocated

2005-06-12 - Kota Kinabalu, Indonesia.

It may be necessary to relocate Sabah's pygmy elephants if they are to survive. Deputy State Wildlife Department Director Laurentius Ambu said such options could help reduce the number of elephants in certain "hotspots," hence allowing better control. Hotspots are where plantations or even villages are located close to wildlife reserves or forests.

 Read more

Pygmy elephants trapped in mud hole freed

2005-01-07 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia.

Two Borneo pygmy elephants stuck in a mud hole at an oil palm plantation in the east coast Lahad Datu district for about four days managed to get out of their predicament.

The weakened female elephants managed to extricate themselves out yesterday after the area around the mud hole was flattened, said Sabah Wildlife Department officer-in-charge for Lahad Datu Stephen Gibin Sira.

 Read more

Elephants stuck in mud

2005-01-06 - KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia.

A rescue is underway for two Borneo pygmy elephants trapped in a mud hole at an oil palm plantation near Kunak in the east coast of Sabah.

Ten state Wildlife Department rangers and a veterinarian assisted by plantation workers have been trying to extricate the two female elephants since Tuesday.

 Read more

Sabah CM orders full report on killing of jumbo

2004-10-28 - KOTA KINABALU, Indonesia. MUGUNTAN VANAR

The Sabah Wildlife Department has been ordered to give a full report on last month’s killing of an endangered Borneo Pygmy elephant to Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman.

 Read more

Borneo Bull elephant killed for tusks

2004-10-27 - KOTA KINABALU, Indonesia. MUGUNTAN VANAR

A Borneo Pygmy elephant was shot dead and butchered for its ivory tusks a month ago near the Tabin Wildlife Forest reserve.

The endangered bull elephant, weighing 2.5 tonnes and 2.6m tall, was shot thrice in the head and had its tusks, each weighing about 14kg, removed. The hind legs were also butchered for meat sometime between Sept 25 and 26.

 Read more

24 years on Internet!

ELEPHANT NEWS was created on 2001 in Munich, and relaunched in Phnom Penh in 2020, with almost 8 000 links to news articles about elephants on the Internet. A number of articles now also have a cross reference to the elephant database, either for individuals elephants and/or to an article about the location holding