Elephants in West Malaysia

WCS is now in the third year of its Peninsular Malaysia Elephant Project.

We are working with the Malaysian authorities to develop a holistic plan for elephants that will balance development and conservation, and which will conserve wild elephant populations in Taman Negara, Endau-Rompin, and elsewhere in Peninsular Malaysia. We are also training government staff in current elephant survey, monitoring, and management methods.

The first two years of the project saw WCS and the Government conduct elephant surveys in Taman Negara National Park, which is one of the largest protected areas in Southeast Asia, and the Endau-Rompin landscape, including the largest tract of protected area in the south of Peninsular Malaysia.

Current work - Mitigating human-elephant conflict

Banana tree (above) and oil palm tree (below) damaged by elephants. Photos: Jessica Tay (above), Melissa Bilong (below).

In 2009 and 2010, WCS and the Government in Johor are concentrating on examining and reducing the extent of human-elephant conflict in the villages near the Endau Rompin Johor area.

Human-elephant conflict in Malaysia involves crop depredation by elephants that leave the forest to feed in adjacent croplands, plantations, and orchards. This results in direct damage to trees and other crops, buildings and other property, and injuries and even death of people and elephants. It limits the expansion of agricultural areas and the types of crops which can be grown.

The program has two phases.

• In the first phase, WCS and staff from Johor National Parks Corporation will assess the extent and frequency of conflict in villages in the Endau Rompin Johor area.
   
• In the second phase, we will test both traditional and experimental elephant deterrents and crop protection methods, with the aim of developing tools that can be used by rural communities practicing sedentary agriculture around elephant habitat. The ultimate aim is for the farmers to be able to implement an effective human-elephant conflict mitigation strategy without external inputs.

Past work - elephant population surveys

In the first two years, WCS and the Government undertook the major task of estimating the population of elephants in two large protected areas in Peninsular Malaysia:

• Taman Negara is situated in the heart of the peninsular and with 4,343 sq km is the largest national park in Peninsular Malaysia. Work started here in June 2006.
   
• Endau Rompin Park straddles the Pahang-Johor border in the south of the Peninsula, and at 891 sq km and is the third biggest protected area in the country. Our survey area in Endau Rompin landscape comprises Endau Rompin Parks in Johor and Pahang Park, and the connected permanent forest reserves on the Johor side (Labis, Kluang, Lenggor, Mersing and Ulu Sedili forest reserves). The combined area is about 2,500 sq km. This area was surveyed from late 2007.

The results of the Taman Negara survey were released in January 2008: it is estimated that there are 631 Asian elephants living in Taman Negara, making it the largest population of elephants known in Southeast Asia.

Jessica training on MIKE “S” Dung Classification System. Photo: Aris Oziar.

The two surveys have also produced an up-to-date map showing the distribution of elephants and the threats to elephants and their habitat. These data will help the Government of Malaysia better manage these two protected areas.

For both these surveys we used the dung count method developed by the CITES-MIKE Programme.

As part of our work, we conducted an extensive program of training and capacity building with Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks and the Johor National Park Corporation. This involved both classroom-based survey design and  statistical analysis courses, and practical field-based courses covering dung count and dung decay survey methods.

Acknowledgements

WCS Malaysia acknowledges the in-kind contribution of staff (past and present), field accommodation and equipment by JNPC, PERHILITAN and CITES MIKE towards this project. Additional financial support were also provided by CITES MIKE, Denver Zoo and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.