Nature conservation and ecotourism in Malaysia

National Elephant Conservation Centre, Kuala Gandah, Pahang 

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) established National Elephant Conservation Centre in 1989. The centre is a base for the Elephant Relocation Team, which began the elephant translocation programme in 1974.

The only one of its kind in Malaysia, the team is dedicated to locating, subduing and then translocation problem elephants from areas where their habitats are constantly being encroached by plantations, to other suitable habitats throughout Peninsular, including Taman Negara National Park. Over the past 30 years the 24 strong team has helped to prevent the further decline of the elephant population by relocating more than 450 wild elephants.

In addition of being the home to the translocation team and a herd of resident elephants, the centre also carries out public awareness activities related to the conservation issues of elephants in Malaysia. It also supports research activities on elephant translocation and conservation. The centre is open to visitors throughout the year. Visitors can ride the elephant within the centre; assist in bathing and feeding them.

The awareness activities strive to educate the public about the importance of the species and habitat protection. Visitors are encouraged to view a video presentation on elephant translocation at the centre. Upon request special programme can be arranged for school groups. A scheduled visitor’s programme is available, which could be referred under the “Visitor Timetable” below.

The Resident Elephants at the Centre
The centre houses a number of resident elephants which were brought in from Thailand and Myanmar. These elephants are trained and used in translocation exercise of catching problem wild elephants in throughout Peninsular Malaysia. The centre also looks after orphaned elephants to ensure their continued survival.

The Asian Elephants
The Peninsular Malaysian elephants belong to the Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) is listed as a critically endangered species, with less than 40,000 wild elephants in Asia, including a maximum of 1,200 wild elephants in Peninsular Malaysia. Protecting the Asian elephants help safeguard thousands of other species within its habitat. The elephant creates vital natural pathways by knocking over trees, allowing smaller species to feed, as well as dispersing plant seeds in its dung. However, due to habitat loss, elephants are forced to hunt for food in convert areas surrounding forest such as plantations, where they raid crops on a massive scale. This is why the translocation team has such a dire responsibility to move these elephants, to prevent them from otherwise being shot by farmers, or simply dying of starvation.

Image Source:http://www.myelephants.org

Visitor Timetable at the Centre
Visitors are encouraged to participate in activities from 2.00 pm onwards.

Time	Activities
2.15 pm	ELEPHANT RIDE Visitors are invited to ride and elephant around the centre.
2.30 pm	BATHING Visitors can join the elephants as they bathe and swim in the river under staff supervision.
3.30 pm	FEEDING Visitors can participate in feeding the elephants, their dinner of banana, carrot, papaya etc.
3.45 pm	VIDEO SHOW Visitors may view a video on issues surrounding wild elephants, diminishing habitat and translocation

Here you’re not only able to watch elephants in the wild, but also feed, ride and swim with them

How to Get There
Visitors are encouraged to contact the centre to facilitate arrangements and to determine whether the centre can accommodate your visit especially if you are coming in a big group. Visitors are advised to bring with them additional clothing should they wish to participate in bathing activities with the elephants in the river. The centre welcomes visitors to the National Elephant Conservation Centre with the aim of educating with outdoor activities.

No admission fees but donations can be contributed to the elephant trust fund. www.myelephants.org

Your Support and Contribution Needed
The National Elephant Conservation Centre at Kuala Gandah is managed by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia. Continuous efforts are being undertaken to enhance the existing facilities either for research and development or visitors to the centre. The Department strives to make this centre as the region’s most outstanding elephant training and conservation centre. We welcome any form of assistance and support.

Enquiries pertaining to assistance and contribution can be forwarded to the staff at the centre. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia has established the Elephant Trust Fund to facilitate donation from the public. You can also forward your enquiries by writing to the following address:

Head
National Elephant Conservation Centre (NECC)
Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP/PERHILITAN)
Kuala Gandah, 28500 Lanchang
Pahang Darul Makmur
Tel: 09-2790391

 THIS ELEPHANTS NEED YOUR DONATIONS

For more info, go to Donation pages

 

Two in Thailand held for smuggling carcasses from Malaysia

BANGKOK: Thai police have arrested two men in connection with the smuggling of tiger and leopard carcasses from Malaysia. They picked up the men – a Thai and a Vietnamese – in Kannayao yesterday and seized the carcasses of two tigers and two leopards. Central Investigation Bureau deputy chief Maj-Gen Sriwara Rangpramnakun said initial investigations revealed that the carcasses were destined for China, enroute Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. He said the carcasses were smuggled into Thailand from Malaysia through Sadao in Songkhla.

Photo: FREELAND Foundation / AP

According to the police, the men claimed that the dead tigers could fetch up to 700,000 baht (RM70,000) each. Perhilitan, the Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department, said it had come across quite a number of cases of Malaysian-registered luxury cars being modified to hide illicit cargo of endangered animals. Another tactic was to hide illegal wildlife by mixing them with products such as fish and vegetables while some traffickers try to pass off the animals as airline cargo.

Under the Wildlife Conservation Act, which went into effect recently, those caught smuggling endangered wildlife could face a fine of up to RM500,000 and mandatory jail time. 

Source: Bernama

Species on the edge

Throughout South and Southeast Asia and Indochina, populations of Asian elephants and rhinos cling to survival in some of the few remaining homes that sustain them. The future of these spectacular creatures is clearly at risk, for they live in a rapidly changing environment that they must share with humans struggling for sustainable livelihoods.

ASIAN RHINOS
Widely slaughtered for their horn – a highly prized commodity in traditional Asian medicines – and decimated by the destruction of their lowland rainforest habitat, many Asian rhinos now hover on the brink of extinction.

Sumatran Rhino Distribution Map (Image Source:www.rhinos-irf.org)

Sumatran Rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis)

The Sumatran rhino – which once ranged from Assam in India to Indochina, Malaysia, and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo – lost at least half its population in the decade from 1985 to 1995. Today, scientists estimate, there may be fewer than 300 wild Sumatran rhinos left in scattered pockets in Sumatra, Borneo, and Peninsular Malaysia.

Javan Rhino Distribution Map (Image Source:www.rhinos-irf.org)

Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus)

Historically, the Javan rhino roamed from Assam through Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao P.D.R., Vietnam, Sumatra, and Java. Today, fewer than 60 remain in Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, and no more than 10 scramble for survival in Vietnam’s Cat Tien National Park.

Greater One-horned Rhino Distribution Map (Image Source:www.rhinos-irf.org)

Greater One-Horned Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis)

The greater one-horned rhino could once be found from Pakistan all the way through India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. By the turn of the century, this species had vanished from the majority of its range, and today, only about 2,400 survive in India and Nepal.

Asian Elephant Distribution Map (Image Source:iucn.org)

Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Killed for their ivory, meat, and bone, and for their live young, Asia’s last remaining elephants continue to decline in number in the face of poaching and habitat destruction. As recently as 1995, only 35,000 to 50,000 Asian elephants were thought to remain in the wild (as opposed to 10 times as many elephants in Africa). Since then, several populations have dwindled still further, and scientists fear that current populations may have fallen well below 1995 estimates.

Source: panda.org

Attempt to smuggle pangolins foiled

 

NINETY-FOUR pangolins believed to be bound for the cooking pots in the region were seized by the authorities at the cargo complex in Batu Maung, Penang. The importer had shipped the animals in boxes from Sabah and declared them as crabs.

However, checks by the Penang Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) and the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services (Maqis) found that 43 of the 49 boxes contained pangolins. State Perhilitan director Jamalun Nasir Ibrahim said they were still investigating where the protected species worth about RM106,000 were heading. “We believe the animals will be sold in foreign markets where the demand for exotic meat is high. “The price of the pangolin meat can go up to RM220 per kg.

“We have not arrested anyone yet. But we have information on the importer and exporter,” he said at the Perhilitan office in Jalan Gurdwara, George Town. The smuggling attempt was foiled at about 12.30pm on Thursday in an operation led by state Maqis chief Abdul Hamid Sulaiman and Perhilitan officer Tang Teong Kim at the Kuala Lumpur Airport Services’ (KLAS) cargo complex.

Jamalun said the case was being investigated under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716) and if convicted, the offender would face a fine between RM50,000 and RM100,000 or a jail term up to three years. In a separate case, the department’s licensing unit led by officer Rofley Ambuka raided a petshop in Bukit Mertajam and found 103 turtles not listed in its registry.

There were 40 Southeast Asian Box Turtles (Cuora amboinensis), 41 Giant Asian Pond Turtles (Heosemys grandis) and 22 Black Marsh Turtles (siebenrockiella crassicollis) with a total market price of RM7,000.

Source: thestar.com

Cobras in Papaya

GEORGE TOWN - A shipment declared as papayas was found to contain hundreds of cobras and freshwater turtles worth some RM110,000 (S$45,000) meant for the cooking pot in Hong Kong.

The animals were rescued by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) in a joint raid with the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services at the KL Airport Services local cargo complex in Batu Maung near here.

Penang Perhilitan director Jamalun Nasir Ibrahim said the 555 cobras and 171 turtles were found inside 80 polystyrene boxes which were kept among 100 boxes of papayas in a container.

The shipment, he said, was declared as papayas bound for Hong Kong. He said the driver of the lorry transporting the container was arrested during the raid around 4.30am on Wednesday.

"We arrested the driver, who is in his 40s, to facilitate investigations to track down the mastermind," Jamalun said yesterday.

 

He believed a syndicate was behind the smuggling of the giant Asian pond turtles (Heosemys grandis) and the monocellate cobra (Naja kaouthia).

"We believe the animals were to be smuggled out to meet the demand for exotic animal dishes," he added.

Jamalun said the cobras could fetch RM200 each for the bigger ones and about RM800 each for smaller ones while the turtles cost about RM200 each.

Both species, he said, were listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which meant that trading in them was only permitted with an export permit and certificate of origin.

Based on the shipment's documentation, he said, the papayas were harvested from a farm in Kedah.

Jamalun said the case was being investigated under Section 10 of the International Trade in Endangered Species Act that carries a fine of not more than RM100,000 for each animal but not more than RM1mil in aggregate, or a maximum seven-year jail term or both.

Source: thestar.com