Australian tourist gored to death by a Pygmy Bornean Elephant in Tabin, Sabah, East Malaysia

A trip to the wildlife wilderness in Tabin, near Lahad Datu in the east coast of Sabah, East Malaysia turned tragic for Jenna O'Grady Donley, 26, a Sydney-based veterinarian.

She was attacked by a Pygmy Bornean elephant, which was apparently startled by the sounds of Jenna's camera shutter and flash in the 6.30am incident on Wednesday, 7th December 2011.


Her woman companion and guide escaped the attack at the 123,000ha wildlife re-serve about 100km from Lahad Datu.



The 123,000ha Tabin wildlife re-serve about 100km from Lahad Datu, was opened in 1984. This is the first such incident.






Below is a video of the Borneo Pygmy Elephants, smaller in size compared with African Elephants, they sometimes look friendly but menacing as wells.!!



Malaysian media reported that an Australian female tourist was gored to death by a bull elephant that charged at her as she was photographing it in Sabah's Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

This tragic incident happened approximately 6.30 am on Wednesday 7th December 2011.

Jenna O'Grady Donley, 26, a Sydney-based veterinarian, was attacked by the elephant, which was apparently startled by the sounds of the camera shutter and flash in the shocking incident.

Witnesses claimed that she could not flee in time as the elephant charged at her suddenly. Her woman companion and guide escaped the attack.

State Wildlife Department director Dr Laurentius Ambu said a group of women and their guide had gone to a nearby mud volcano and decided to take the wildlife trail on their way back to the resort.

Dr Ambu said the group had gone off the trail to take photographs of the wild elephant, which he suspected was a single bull.

Single bull elephants, he said, tend to be loners and were dangerous with their unpredictable behaviour.

Dr Ambu said the women had stopped about 10m from the animal and started taking pictures.

He said this might have provoked the elephant.

He added that the others escaped but the woman could not as she was the closest to the animal.

The woman's remains have been sent to a hospital in Lahad Datu.

The department's wildlife unit chief veterinarian Dr Sen Nathan said a team had been sent to check on the bull and to ascertain the situation concerning the animal.

“We have to check if the elephant was in a state of musth (when testosterone levels are high and the animal becomes aggressive and unpredictable) and see what needs to be done,” he said.

Dr Sen said this was the first time such an incident had occurred within the wildlife reserve although there had been two other cases of elephants goring humans in Sabah over the last decade.

Bid to smuggle 695 elephant tusks in Malaysia foiled

This is worrying. More and more news reports of the illegal trade of elephant tusks in Malaysia, are being reported.

On Friday, 2nd September 2011, 2 containers containing 695 elephant tusks weighing 2,000 kg, worth Ringgit Malaysia, RM 3 million were seized by the Customs Department in Port Klang, Selangor, Malaysia, according to the Malaysian Customs department.

The seizure was the second in the space of a fortnight in Malaysia.

On August 19th 2011, 664 elephant tusks weighing 1,586 kg worth RM 2.3 million were seized in Penang.

So in the span of 14 days, a total of 1,359 elephant tusks valued at RM 5.3 million, were busted by the Malaysian authority.

How many more cases out there which include those who managed to avoid detection by authorities?

All the tusks in the Port Klang and Penang cases, were hidden amongst recycled crushed plastic in 20-foot containers.

Both shipments were from Tanzania, an African nation known for its rich elephants habitats.

Both shipments had stopped for transhipment in Malaysia with China being its final destination.

The shipment in the Port Klang case was declared as 'recycle crush plastic and was on transit from Dar Es Salaam Port to China.

The Malaysian Custom department believes it was possible that the same syndicate was behind the Penang and Port Klang cases as the modus operandi for both cases were similar.

Investigations are ongoing to determine those involved. So far no arrests had been made for both cases.

Meanwhile a report said more than 20 tonnes of illegal ivory have passed through at least two Malaysian ports since 2003, earning the country an unsavoury reputation as a transhipment hub for the multi-million ringgit trade and the figure involves only those seized.

Wildlife monitoring trade network Traffic regional director Dr William Schaedla said Malaysia had become a major hub for illegal ivory trade in the last few years.

This could have been caused by stricter enforcement measures in neighbouring countries, leading smugglers to venture through Malaysian ports, he said.

“Smugglers tend to move to an easier' place. If enforcement in other countries heats up, then they will find a soft spot elsewhere,” he said.

It was reported that 794 African ivory tusks were confiscated by Hong Kong authorities on Monday, 5th September 2011 after they arrived by sea from Malaysia.

The tusks, weighing 1.9 tonnes and estimated to be worth around HK$ 13 million (RM 4.97 million), was concealed in a consignment declared as non-ferrous products for factory use.

The seizure came after last week's report that more than 1,000 elephant tusks were seized by Tanzanian authorities in Tanzania. The tusks were hidden in a strong-smelling container of anchovies destined for Malaysia.

The huge amount of ivory being shipped accounts for thousands of elephants killed in the past few decades.

Some tusks come from freshly-killed animals while others are from stockpiles.

Dr Schaedla said it was vital that Malaysia increased its regional cooperation and exchange of information with Asean countries via the Asean Wildlife Enforcement Network.

He also suggested that customs officers improve their communication mechanisms by using the Ecomessage system set up by Interpol.


(Ecomessage is a database to coordinate international efforts to combat environmental crime, including illegal trafficking of wildlife.)

Dr Schaedla commended the Customs Department for heightening its enforcement measures of late, saying: “Malaysia is now quite serious about wildlife crime but still has a long way to go.”

Traffic has identified Malaysia as “a country of concern” in its latest Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) report.

Among the countries that seized ivory shipments after transiting through Malaysian ports were Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand.

The latter two (Vietnam and Thailand) are themselves known transit hubs for the illegal ivory trade, according to Traffic reports.

A general manager of a shipping company said there were around 50,000 to 100,000 containers which entered ports for transit in a month, adding that the containers were allowed to be stored free in the container yard for 28 days.

He claimed that Customs officers would only conduct an X-ray inspection on containers if they had a tip-off.

According to the World Wildlife Fund Global website, there could have been as many as three to five million African elephants in the 1930s and 1940s.

However, today, only some 300,000 elephants roam southern Africa and considerably fewer in West Africa.

Poor those African elephants, Damn those smugglers!!

Elephant Has Sex With a Car With Passengers Still Inside

Next time you see an elephant, beware.

In this amazing sequence of photographs, a giant bull elephant is seen flipping a car over like it was a toy in the Pilansberg Game Reserve in North West Province, South Africa.

Pilanesberg Game Reserve is set in the crater of a long extinct volcano, and is the fourth largest in South Africa, covering an area of 55, 000 hectare.

Pilanesberg National Park accommodates virtually every mammal of southern Africa and is also home to the Big Five.

However one amazing moment was captured by photographer Riaan van Wyk, who watched the whole wildlife scene from a safe distance!

Irishman John Somers was celebrating his 66th birthday and driving through the Pilanesberg National park with a friend when he decided to try and overtake a huge and horny bull elephant. Big mistake.

The elephant, called Amarula, at first rubbed itself up against the car, perhaps mistaking it for a female mate.

But then the beast, pumped full of hormones, became aggressive and flipped the car on its roof as the terrified occupants clung on for dear life inside.









Luckily, they suffered only minor cuts and bruises from the incident.

What a memorable birthday Mr Somers..

Don't mess with elephants.