KOTA KINABALU (ANN/THE STAR) – Development plans must consider the needs of Bornean pygmy elephants, now officially recognised as an endangered species, said an expert.
Dr Nurzhafarina Othman, a senior lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), noted that the Bornean elephant has been classified as endangered under the updated International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species as of Wednesday, June 26.
The updated list also acknowledges the Bornean elephant as a subspecies of the larger Asian elephant. Previously, the Bornean elephant had no specific status and adopted the endangered classification only given to its Asian continent cousins.
“Now, all subspecies have their own species status,” Dr Nurzhafarina said on Saturday. “This highlights the urgent need to consider the needs of these elephants in all development planning,” she added. Dr Nurzhafarina also leads the elephant conservation NGO Seratu Aatai.
With this newly obtained status, she emphasised that everyone must now “walk the talk” in protecting the Bornean pygmy elephants.
