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.

Hollywood star, Sigourney Weaver in a surprise visit to Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia

Sigourney Weaver became the star of the Alien films, reprising her role as Ripley in four sequels between 1979 and 1997. She did not appear in either of the Alien vs. Predator crossovers of the 2000s, but has expressed interest in doing a fifth Alien film.



Sigourney Weaver is a Hollywood icon. She catapulted into fame by playing the role of Alien buster, Ellen Ripley in 1979 right up to Alien 4th sequel in 1997. She also starred in other blockbusters movies including Ghostbusters and Gorilla in the Mists.


In the 1988 movie Gorillas in the Mist, Sigourney plays the role as the real life American naturalist Dian Fossey and her work in Rwanda with Mountain Gorillas over a period of 18 years.

Sadly, Fossey was found murdered in the bedroom of her cabin in Virunga Mountains, Rwanda on December 26, 1985. The last entry in her diary read:

“ When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future ”

Fossey's skull had been split by a panga (machete), a tool widely used by poachers, which she had confiscated from a poacher years earlier and hung as a decoration on the wall of her living room adjacent to her bedroom. Fossey was found dead beside her bed, with her handgun beside her. She was in the act of loading her weapon, but picked the wrong type of ammunition during the struggle. The cabin showed signs of a struggle as there was broken glass on the floor and tables along with other furniture overturned. All Fossey's valuables were still in the cabin - thousands of dollars in cash, travelers' checks, and photo equipment remained untouched. It remains a mystery.

Now back to Sigourney Weaver surprise visit to Sabah. The visit was so sudden that the local and international media, missed it completely.

Weaver visited the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary in Sandakan last week between 17 April 2011 to 24th April 2011. After that, her whereabouts remains a mystery. People including the media didn't know her shedules as well as her flight details, leaving out of Sabah and Kuala Lumpur.



Well, the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary is the largest of its kind in the world. The centre opened in 1964 as the first official orangutan rehabilitation project for rescued orphaned baby orangutans from logging sites, plantations, illegal hunting or kept as pets.

The orphaned orangutans are trained to survive again in the wild and are released as soon as they are ready. The sanctuary is located within the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve which covers an area of 5529 ha, much of which is virgin rainforest.Today around 60 to 80 orangutans are living free in the reserve. It has become one of Sabah's top tourist attractions.

Altogether, it is estimated that Sabah which is in Borneo island, is the habitat to approximately 12,000 Orang Utans.

Apart from the Orang Utan Sanctuary which Sigourney Weaver visited, she also took some time off to wander around the Borneo Sun Bear Sanctuary, located within the Orang Utan Sanctuary.









All the best Miss Weaver.

Perdana Park, latest tourists attraction in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia

Pic - E slyvia Sooyon


Pic - E Slyvia Sooyon

A 50 million ringgit musical fountain is among the facilities at the Perdana Park in Tanjung Aru, near Kota Kinabalu, Sabah which was officialy opened by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak on 28 January 2011.


This park has a public facility that includes a fully rubberised jogging track and fitness equipment such as arm raise, step up machine and others.

The park also has a recreational playground for the kids.

At night, the city folk can watch and enjoy the musical fountain which is the main attraction.

Water, light and sound, blended perfectly to produce this awesome and mouthwatering show.

Enjoyyy.. and welcome to Sabah, the land below the wind.

Photos of leopards raise need for more forest corridors in Sabah

News source : The Star online / Sabah Wildlife Department, Danau Girang Field Centre and HUTAN




Photos : Endangered species: An image of the clouded leopard and her cub that was captured at a narrow strip of forest in the Lower Kinabatangan.

KOTA KINABALU 31 Jan 2011:

A sequence of 12 photographs showing a clouded leopard and her cub moving about in the lower Kinabatangan region in Sabah has strengthened calls among conservationists for the setting up of more wildlife forest corridors.

The photographs were captured last November by camera traps that were part of the Kinabatangan Carnivore Programme involving the Sabah Wildlife Department, conservation group Danau Girang Field Centre, French non-governmental organisation Hutan (that conducts conservation projects and research on orang utan) and WildCRU (the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, which is part of the University of Oxford Department of Zoology).

Sabah Wildlife director Laurentius Ambu said pictures of the clouded leopard and its cub were captured in a narrow forest corridor between the Kinabatangan river and an oil palm plantation.

Hutan co-director Dr Marc Ancre­naz said the photographs showed that carnivores were still present in the Kinabatangan floodplain.

“The pictures show that these animals rely on forest corridors for moving around forest patches.

“As already shown for other species such as orang utan, gibbons, proboscis monkeys and elephants, these animals need corridors of forest for surviving in the Kinabatangan area.

“Without these corridors, species population will decline and become extinct.

“It is urgent for everybody to collaborate in order to create more corridors,” Dr Ancrenaz said.

Funding for the programme was started by American zoos in Houston, Columbus, Cincinnatti and Phoenix, as well as private donors from New York.

Malaysian Prime Minister visits Maliau Basin, Sabah - 29th January 2011

Maliau Basin located deepn in the interior of Sabah is one of the world's premier ecological centres.

The Basin derives its name because of its mystery and unique basin shaped at 1,900 metres above sea-level, with its own skies and cloud formations.

Hence, earning the nickname - The Lost World.

Here, one can experience wonders of nature including countless flora and fauna species as well as boasting one of the highest density of waterfalls ever found in one place.

On the morning of Saturday, January 29th, 2011, history was made when Maliau Basin was visited by Malaysia's number one, the Prime Minister himself, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak.
















During his visit to Maliau Basin, the Premier said Malaysia is very keen to list Sabah's Lost World, the Maliau Basin as a world heritage site.

In endorsing the state government's proposal, Najib said a World Heritage listing by UNESCO would bring immediate world attention and interest in the 58,400-hectare untouched tropical rainforest, just slightly smaller then Singapore.

He said the heritage listing of Mount Kinabalu National Park, George Town, Gunung Mulu National Park and Malacca had seen a jump in worldwide interest in such areas of natural or historical importance.

However, he said there was a lot of work to be done to obtain such a World Heritage status as the government and various had to meet with various guidelines to be able to meet the requirements of Unesco in listing it as a world heritage site.

“I would support the Chief Minister in getting this place listed as a world heritage site," he told reporters after becoming the first Prime Minister to step foot in the Maliau Basin where he opened the Maliau Basin Studies Centre and also launched the study of the Stability of Altered Forest Eco-Systems (SAFE) conducted by Royal Socieity of UK and sponsored by Sime Darby Foundation, that is set to become the world’s largest ecological experiment.

Najib said that Maliau Basin was becoming an integral part of an ecological experiment in an area that contained rare flora and fauna, including six types of pitcher plants and more then 80 species of orchids and endangered wildlife, from rhinocerous to orang utans.

''Only about 25% of Maliau Basin has been explored. From four major expeditions between 1986 to 2005, we learned it has the greatest number of waterfalls any where in Malaysia.

“About 40 of them, in all, including the famous seven-tiered Maliau Falls and Sabah's only ox-bow lake called Lake Linumunsut."

However, he said conservation required funding and hoped the private sector, local and international, could play a significant role in sustaining and extending Malaysia's conservation efforts.

''This will be crucial in making Maliau Basin Studies Centre a premier facility for tropical rainforest, research and scientific discovery in the region," he added.

In Maliau Basin, Datuk Seri Najib also said certain Western critics of Malaysia’s oil palm industry were taking a narrow view of the issue when they ignore the benefits of the industry to those who depend on it for their livelihood.

“The critics fail to understand we have a responsibility to our people who depend on oil palm and this does not include smallholders and companies.

“Compared to others, we are doing better in sustainable development and preservation of the environment,”.

Earlier in his speech, he said the SAFE project was important as it was in line with Malaysia’s commitment to conservation and will help address many issues the world is facing, especially climate change, as a result of deforestation.

“This project will make a major contribution to understanding how biodiversity can be protected and maintained in our plantations.

“It will also assess how to balance the economic benefits of the oil palm industry with the need for environmental conservation and sustainable development,” he added.

Najib said that, to date, there has been no definitive study on the quantifiable impact of deforestation on wildlife, water quality, nutrient cycle and soil stability.

“At best, what we have are educated guesses which are not sufficient to make important decisions that could affect our environment.”

Najib said the project will help address the issue of deforestation and the impact of oil palm plantations properly.

“We need long-term, large scale ecological experiments like SAFE to give us concrete answers that can help guide any modifications in the way oil palm plantations are operated.”

The Maliau Basin Studies Centre and the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) project is a 10-year study costing RM 30 million is sponsored by Sime Darby and is undertaken by the Royal Society’s South-East Asia Rainforest Research Programme and is set to become the world’s largest ecological experiment.

Perdana Menteri Malaysia lawat Maliau Basin, Sabah, 29 January 2011

Satu catatan sejarah terpahat dalam sejarah pemuliharaan alam sekitar dan alam semulajadi di negara ini apabila pemimpin nombor satu negara, Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak, turun padang sendiri melawat Maliau Basin, satu daripada pusat perlindungan ekologi terbesar dan terkenal di dunia.

Maliau Basin seluas 588 kilometer persegi (seperti keluasan Singapura), terletak di pedalaman Sabah antara Keningau dan Tawau dan diwartakan sebagai kawasan perlindungan pada 1981 oleh Yayasan Sabah dan diwartakan pada 1997 oleh Sidang Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah.

Maliau Basin dianggap misteri dan unik kerana bentuknya seperti basin iaitu melengkung ke bawah seperti mangkuk dan mempunyai awan sendiri di kawasan tinggi 1,900 meter dari paras laut.

Lembangan Maliau atau Maliau Basin berbentuk umpama sebuah mangkuk gergasi yang tergantung pada ketinggian antara 1,500 hingga 1,900m dari paras laut - menjadikannya tidak mungkin boleh didiami manusia dan oleh itu tidak diterokai.

Atas sebab itu, Maliau Basin digelar the Lost World atau Dunia Terasing atau Dunia yang hilang dan Dunia Yang Tersembunyi.






















Maliau Basin juga dikenali sebagai kawasan memiliki paling banyak Air Terjun di Malaysia, atau juga di dunia.

Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak melawat Maliau Basin pada pagi Sabtu 29 Januari 2011 dengan menaiki helikopter dari Tawau sebelum berlepas pulang ke Kuala Lumpur pada sebelah tengahari dan bergegas pula ke Abu Dhabi, Emiriyah Arab Bersatu untuk lawatan kerja ke negara itu.

Di Maliau, Perdana Menteri berkata, Malaysia mempunyai rekod prestasi yang baik dalam bidang pembangunan lestari, berbanding negara lain, walaupun ada pihak tertentu di peringkat global mempunyai perspektif negatif terhadap amalan dalam aktiviti perusahaan minyak sawit negara ini.

Kata beliau, sebagai sebuah negara, sudah sewajarnya wujud keperluan bagi Malaysia untuk menggunakan tanah bagi tujuan pembangunan, tetapi kerajaan menggubal dasar tertentu untuk memastikan wujud keseimbangan daripada segi keperluan menjaga kepentingan rakyat dan memulihara kawasan hutan.

"Kita perlu sediakan ruang untuk membolehkan rakyat Malaysia menikmati kehidupan lebih baik, tapi pada masa yang sama, kawasan yang dimajukan untuk penanaman kelapa sawit perlu dibangunkan secara lestari. Malah, ada kawasan di mana pembangunan dan pembalakan langsung tidak dibenarkan, seperti Lembangan Maliau dan Lembah Danum dan kawasan tadahan air.

"Jika kita bandingkan dengan prestasi negara lain, rekod prestasi kita lebih baik daripada kebanyakan mereka...setelah mereka musnahkan sumber hutan mereka, kini mereka meninjau ke sana sini dan cuba menuding jari kepada kita, sedangkan merekalah sebenarnya yang menjadi punca masalah,” kata beliau kepada pemberita di Maliau Basin dalam sidang media selepas merasmikan Pusat Kajian Lembangan Maliau (MBSC) dan Projek SAFE (Kestabilan Ekosistem Hutan Yang Ubah) di Kawasan Pemuliharaan Lembangan Maliau pada 29 Januari 2011.

Najib berkata demikian apabila diminta mengulas anggapan sesetengah pihak, terutama di Eropah kononnya Malaysia tidak bertindak secukupnya untuk manambah baik amalan dalam industri minyak sawitnya untuk meningkatkan pembangunan secara lestari.

MBSC terletak di Kawasan Pemuliharaan Lembangan Maliau seluas kira-kira 58,840 hektar dan merupakan Hutan Simpan Kelas I (Perlindungan) di bawah pengurusan Yayasan Sabah.

Terletak kira-kira tiga jam setengah perjalanan dari Keningau atau bandar Tawau, Lembangan Maliau juga dikenali sebagai “Dunia Tersembunyi Sabah”, yang mendapat nama itu kerana bentuknya umpama sebuah mangkuk gergasi yang tergantung pada ketinggian antara 1,500 hingga 1,900m dari paras laut - menjadikannya tidak mungkin boleh didiami manusia dan oleh itu tidak diterokai.

MBSC, yang mempunyai keluasan 18 hektar, bertindak sebagai ibu pejabat bagi kawasan pemuliharaan dengan fungsi utamanya menyediakan venue serta kemudahan untuk penyelidik dan mereka yang menyertai program pembelajaran tentang alam semula jadi serta peserta kursus.

Pusat kajian itu lahir daripada kerjasama antara kerajaan Malaysia dan Denmark bagi menjamin Lembangan Maliau sentiasa dipulihara, dengan perbelanjaan mewujudkan prasarana di situ sebahagian besarnya dibiayai Yayasan Sabah, manakala Danish Cooperation for Environment and Development (DANCED) menyediakan bantuan teknikal serta dana untuk menghasilkan reka bentuk seni bina pusat itu, sebuah makmal dan khidmat perundingan untuk mendapatkan bekalan tenaga yang mampu memulihara kelestarian alam sekitar.

IKEA pula menyumbangkan dana untuk membina bilik pembelajaran, asrama, paparan interpretasi pendidikan alam sekitar, pembinaan denai, jambatan kanopi, menara tinjau, jambatan gantung dan kem satelit.

Sementara itu, mengulas lanjut dalam sidang medianya di Maliau Basin, Perdana Meneri berkata Kerajaan akan berusaha supaya Lembangan Maliau di sini mendapat pengiktirafan sebagai Tapak Warisan dunia.

Perdana Menteri berkata, pengiktirafan daripada Pertubuhan Pendidikan, Saintifik dan Kebudayaan Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (UNESCO) akan menarik minat dari seluruh dunia terhadap lembangan itu.

Beliau sebelum itu melancarkan Pusat Pengajian Lembangan Maliau di kawasan konservasi Lembangan Maliau di sini dan memberi respons kepada cadangan Ketua Menteri Sabah, Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

Najib berkata Malaysia, yang merupakan anggota lembaga pengarah Unesco, akan mengemukakan presentasi kepada agensi PBB itu.

"Sudah tentulah sebaik sahaja disenaraikan sebagai Tapak Warisan Dunia, minat dari seluruh dunia akan meningkat dengan mendadak,” katanya.

Najib mengambil beberapa tempat di Georgetown, Pulau Pinang; Melaka dan Gua Mulu di Sarawak sebagai contoh tapak yang banyak mendapat manfaat daripada pengiktirafan Unesco itu.

Beliau berkata pengiktirafan itu bagaimanapun tidak boleh diperoleh sekelip mata.

"Ada proses yang perlu kita lalui, tetapi mudah-mudahan kita akan berjaya menyenaraikannya (Lembangan Malian Basin sebagai Tapak Warisan Dunia),” katanya.

Musa, ketika berucap sebelum itu, berkata kerajaan negeri akan meneruskan usaha untuk memulihara Lembangan Maliau sebuah destinasi kegemaran pencinta alam.

Ketika lawatan seharinya ke Maliau Basin, Datuk Seri Najib turut melancarkan projek Kestabilan Pengubahan Ekosistem Hutan (SAFE) yang beliau sifatkan sebagai kajian terbesar seumpamanya mengenai ekologi.

Perdana Menteri berkata, projek SAFE berobjektif membantu melindungi ekosistem hutan hujan dan memulihara biodiversiti dalam konteks pengeluaran pertanian.

Beliau menyifatkan pelancaran projek itu di Lembangan Maliau di sini sebagai amat bersejarah kerana projek itu “akan menyediakan asas bagi kajian 10 tahun mengenai impak pengubahsuaian hutan.”

Ini membabitkan akibat pembalakan, penanaman semula kawasan hutan dan pemecahan kawasan hutan ke atas fungsi dan peranan hutan hujan tropika, katanya.

Projek itu adalah usahasama antara Yayasan Sime Darby dan Royal Society of SEARRP, Program Penyelidikan Hutan Hujan Asia Tenggara.

Yayasan itu akan menyuntik RM30 juta ke dalam projek itu, dengan penyelidikan berpusat di Pusat Kajian Lembangan Maliau.

Najib berkata, Lembangan Maliau, dikenali sebagai Sabah’s Lost World yang kaya dengan pelbagai spesies flora dan fauna, merupakan kawasan yang sempurna bagi projek itu.

Beliau berkata penyelidikan itu amat penting bagi mendapatkan pengetahuan mengenai sistem yang perlu diwujudkan untuk melindungi hutan hujan tropika di Malaysia.

"Penyelidikan ini akan menyumbang kepada pemahaman mengenai bagaimana biodiversiti boleh dilindungi dan dikekalkan dalam aktiviti perladangan.

"Ia juga akan menilai bagaimana untuk mengseimbangkan manfaat ekonomi daripada industri kelapa sawit dengan keperluan pemuliharaan alam sekitar dan pembangunan lestari,” katanya.

Pasukan penyelidikan diketuai Dr Rob Ewers dari Imperial College of the United Kingdom dan Dr Glen Reynolds dari Royal Society of SEARRP, dan akan termasuk saintis dari Universiti Oxford, Universiti Cambridge, Universiti Stanford, Universiti Zurich dan Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

Hidup Maliau Basin..!!!

UBF, United Borneo Front, gains more supports from Sabahans

PRESS STATEMENT FROM UNITED BORNEO FRONT

“MASS RESIGNATION FROM PKR KINABATANGAN TO JOIN UBF’S BORNEO ALLIANCE” - 30 January 2011

Kinabatangan, Sabah, 30th January 2011.

At the largest ‘Borneo Tea Party’ event held so far for the leaders of United Borneo Front (UBF), villagers from various areas of the Kinabatangan region thronged a community centre in Kampung Entilibon 1 Tongod, a 5 hour drive into Borneo’s heartland from Kota Kinabalu, to receive a 4WD convoy of UBF supporters, preceded by 50 or more bikers clad in yellow t-shirts emblazoned with ‘United Borneo Front-Kinabatangan’.

The tea party, organised by UBF die-hards, Jalibin Paidi and James Aik, included a seminar presented by UBF leader Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan together with his advisers and co-founders, lawyer and activist Nilakrisna James and economist Zainal Ajamain.

The seminar focused upon the economic and land issues affecting the Kinabatangan region as well as the 5% oil share from PETRONAS recently raised by Dr. Jeffrey.

“We have no choice but to address the unfair economic policies and the laws which have silenced our voices of resentment and hindered our ability to be self-reliant. People are sick and tired of their poverty. There are smallholder farmers in the interior who have ventured into Palm Oil but feel cheated in the amounts they receive for their investment."

" The average price smallholders of Palm Oil receive for their Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) from privately owned Mills (some of which are listed companies and some of which are owned by local businessmen) is between RM700-RM800 per tonne. Smallholders would sell these FFB without realising that the biomass from FFB such as kernel, kernel cakes and empty fruit bunch are more profitable, selling in the international market for RM1,200—RM1,500 per tonne."

" The Mills extract crude palm oil from FFB and sell off the biomass as their own products. These by-products are important for fuel, especially for brick factories and animal feed. People are angry they are being short-changed by the Mills. The UBF therefore suggests that smallholders form their own cooperative to determine a better price from Mills or collect the biomass back from the Mills to sell internationally,” said Dr. Jeffrey in his statement.

Guests at the tea party also highlighted issues of compulsory land acquisitions and the necessity to find common ground to amalgamate Sabah and Sarawak people, regardless of race and religion, to push for equal representation in parliament which, in its current demographic, puts West Malaysian politicians in control of 75% of the seats so as to deny any voice of veto from Sabah and Sarawak.

“If they wish to continue to amend our Federal Constitution and erode our rights or pass unfair laws to our disadvantage, they have their 2/3 majority leaving us powerless in Sabah and Sarawak. This is a breach of our human rights and a breach of Article 8 of the 1963 Malaysia Agreement,” Dr. Jeffrey added.

At the conclusion of the seminar, supporters of UBF and Dr. Jeffrey’Kitingan's political followers tendered in a mass resignation from various Kinabatangan branches of the opposition party, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), pledging their support to UBF and a political vehicle they hope to see arising out of the first popular civil rights movement in Sabah.

A total of 16 heads of PKR branches in the Entilibon zone resigned which includes Kampung Linayukan, Kampung Sanan, Kampung Semundoh, Kampung Entilibon Asal, Kampung Simpang and Kampung Singgahmata.

11 members of the PKR committee for the Kinabatangan region also resigned including the Secretary, Jalibin Paidi, and the Information Chief, Cyril Parantis.

Around 875 members have apparently tendered their resignation to follow their leaders to pursue UBF’s Borneo Agenda, with more members expected to follow in the next few days. The exodus from the Kinabatangan region is seen as the clearest pledge of support for Dr. Jeffrey and his United Borneo Front.

Well.... all the best Dr Jeffrey Kitingan...

Datuk Dr JEFFREY KITINGAN RESIGNS FROM PKR FOR UNITED BORNEO FRONT’S POLITICAL CAUSE”

PRESS STATEMENT FROM DATUK DR. JEFFREY KITINGAN - 2ND JANUARY 2011

“JEFFREY RESIGNS FROM PKR FOR UBF’S POLITICAL CAUSE”

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah :

Amidst internet rumours and speculations of Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan’s resignation from PKR, a statement was issued late Sunday night, 2nd January 2011, to confirm that Dr. Jeffrey has issued a letter of resignation to the President of PKR, Dato Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, dated the 31st December 2010.

In his statement to the press, Dr. Jeffrey expressed his disappointment that rumours should circulate distastefully on his decision prior to a planned press conference to announce his decision properly to the public after the New Year celebrations.

“I had hoped for everyone to enjoy their New Year celebrations and for the festivities to settle down before I make the announcement of my resignation from PKR. For speculators to jump on this and character assassinate without giving me a chance to even enjoy the New Year celebrations with my family and friends is distasteful and without manners,” Dr. Jeffrey said.

He added, “It was not an easy decision but it is the one I must inevitably make in the light of what I must do for the people of Sabah and Sarawak. I have taken many boats on my political journey and every time the boat veers off course and goes further away from my planned destination, I must bid the boatman farewell. For, I realised in Malaysian politics that at the end of the day, the destination was never meant to head towards Borneo."

" As a politician, you choose your vehicles for an agenda you believe in. It is hard to choose a vehicle when the Borneo Agenda is never really paramount or obvious. For whatever anyone may choose to say, I believe strongly that leaving PKR is something I must do to focus on what I have started in the United Borneo Front. "

"As a leader of this pressure group I will push for the Borneo Agenda across all divides to infiltrate the manifestoes and agenda of every political parties that consider Sabah and Sarawak to be equal partners to the Federation. This will remain a non-political pressure group led by individuals like myself who will push for a new political model even after I’m no longer around.”

Dr. Jeffrey also confirmed that if he is to form or join another political party it will be “a boat that will steer the way towards an autonomous Sabah and Sarawak which will bear the ticket towards a Borneo Agenda and the ideals of the United Borneo Front and one in which all his staunch and loyal supporters can say is a boat genuinely and proudly made in Borneo.”

“I remain very close friends with the PKR party leadership and part amicably with no hard feelings. I remain fully committed to the ideals and demands I have espoused in the United Borneo Front and that I intend to approach the negotiating table for our special rights and privileges with both the BN and PR West Malaysian alliances from a strong and new Borneo alliance platform. Whether BN or PR forms the next government remains largely irrelevant to the Borneo states if the Borneo Agenda remains irrelevant to them."

"If we continue to be disenfranchised and denied the right to participate equally in the political decision making process in parliament and denied the right to review our share of the oil revenue, there is no sense in this type of political allegiance because Sabahans and Sarawakians are then left fighting for the scraps and not having a chunk of a very large cake. "

"To take what is rightfully ours without a chance of veto and then having the audacity to call us poor is nonsense and I will not stand up for this as a politician. The boat is irrelevant as long as your journey is made towards your desired destination. I am for Borneo and remain steadfastly loyal to that cause for the rest of my life. I will decide my political future in due course,” he concluded in his statement.



Dr Jeffrey, younger brother of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) President and former Sabah Chief Minister, Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, made his political debut in the 1994 State General Election. He was then Director of the Yayasan Sabah (Sabah Foundation), a powerful post eyed by many since its inception during Usno time in the early 1970s until today.

Standing on a PBS ticket, he won in the election for the Bingkor seat and continued to be YS Director while also playing a pivotal role in Institute of Development Studies (IDS), think-tank of the PBS State Government.

Soon after the collaspe of the PBS government barely weeks after the election, Jeffrey was supposed to have been a founder leader of Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS). But things apparently did not work out the way he had expected it and split ways with eventual PBRS President Tan Sri Joseph Kurup.

He then joined Parti Akar headed by former PBS Deputy President and former Deputy Chief Minister the late Datuk Mark Koding.

When Koding announced his retirement from politics in order to continue his studies in Australia, he meant to hand over the party to Jeffrey.

But Akar Sec-Gen Tan Sri (then Datuk) Pandikar Amin protested and challenged Koding's decision and Jeffrey found himself out in the cold again.

Jeffrey, who was made a Senator and Federal Deputy Minister by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during his tenure with Akar, then "returned" to PBRS. Before long, he challenged Kurup for the party presidency. Kurup won and Jeffrey, was again out in the cold and rejoined PBS headed by his brother.

Jeffrey then applied to join Umno but it did not materialise, with some quarters even claiming that he applied twice, thus causing confusion at the party headquarters.

Frustrated, Jeffrey ended up in PKR this time. It did not take him long to be involved in a PKR Sabah leadership tussle with Hj Ansari Abdullah.

To resolve the crisis, party de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim made him a party Vice-President.

All the best Datuk Dr Jeffrey..

Orang Utan - Man of the forest vulnerable to forest conversion

A Message from Orang Utan Survival Group of Borneo


An Orang Utan being translocated from Sepilok to Tabin Forest Reserve via Helicopter - funded by Orang Utan UK.

There are currently approximately 11,000 Orang Utans population in Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia.

This Great Ape can only be found in Borneo Island which consists of Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysia) and Kalimantan (Indonesia).

In Sabah, the Orang Utan is categorized as fully protected species alongside Pygmy Elephants, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Proboscis Monkeys, Sun Bears/Honey Bears, Clouded Leopards or locally known as Harimau Dahan, Dugong, Buaya Julung Julung or Crocodiles of Tomistoma schlegeli species, Hawksbill Turtles and Green Turtles.

Sabah is the pioneer in the conservations and rehabilitations of the Orang Utan - the first such centre was opened as early as 1964 at the 5,500 hectares Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve in Sepilok, near Sandakan, in the east coast of Sabah.

Here, the Orang Utans are being taken care by professional personells of the Sabah Wildlife Department as well as Researchers and Scholars from all over the world.

The Orang Utans in Sepilok are given food twice daily at 10 am and 3 pm.

Common Name: Orang-utan (English & Bahasa Melayu)
Also known as : Kogiu (Orang Sungai / Dusun language)
Scientific Name: Pongo pygmaeus (Borneon orang-utan)
Habitat: Lowland forests, also found in tropical, swamp and mountain forests
Status: Endangered globally. Vulnerable in Sabah & Sarawak
Population: Estimated to be about 12,300 in Sabah & Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

Asia’s only great ape, the orang-utan or ‘man of the forest’ is found only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

Globally classified as endangered due to their habitat being destroyed, fragmented and poaching, orang-utans in Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak) are probably best classed as ‘vulnerable’.

Much of their prime habitat has been converted to plantations and the rate of habitat loss has hit a very low level in recent years. There is almost no hunting of this species in Malaysia, and most of the remaining populations are found in forests that are protected or under natural forest management.

Borneo is unique in that it has three distinct populations or subspecies of orang-utans:

• Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus (northwest populations)
• Pongo pygmaeus morio (northeast and east populations)
• Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii (southwest populations)

Orang-utans in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak occur mainly in the lowlands.

In Sarawak, there are about 1,300 orang-utans, almost all in the Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary and Batang Ai National Park in the south next to West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

In Sabah, there were five main areas of special importance with a total of 20,000 orang-utans in the mid 1980s (by WWF-Malaysia working with the Sabah Forestry Department, 1986).

By 2004, the orang-utan population in Sabah had dropped to about 11,000 individuals (by Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Project working with Sabah Wildlife Department, 2003).

This decline in their numbers in the last twenty years was caused by planned conversion of forests to plantations in the eastern lowlands.

Physical and species description

Orang-utans generally have brown and rust-coloured shaggy fur. Weighing in at an average of 50 kg, female orang-utans grow to about 1.1 m in height and weigh 30 - 50 kg. Males weigh 50-90 kg and stand 1.2 - 1.5 m tall.

Ecology, Habitat & Distribution

Fruit eater sleeps in new nest every night.

Imagine sleeping 2 storeys and above up in the trees every night. The arboreal orang-utan lives up in trees where they bend twigs and small branches together to make a large nest-platform for sleeping.

They are the largest tree dwelling mammal in the world. Adult orang-utans are solitary, except during mating.

Orang-utans are not territorial, maintaining a loose relationship in a given area although adult males are hostile to one another. Crowding may cause them to fight over the limited supply of fruits. An adult female gives birth about once every six years.

Orang Utan Diet

Omnivorous, orang-utans eat both plants and animals but feed mainly on fruits, young leaves, bark and insects. By about the age of ten, an orang-utan can recognise over 200 different food plants. The orang-utan’s favourite food is fruit.

Population decline of 40% in last two decades

Orang-utans in Sabah and Sarawak live mainly in lowland rainforests but are also found in tropical, swamp and mountain forests. Sarawak has about 1,300 orang-utans, almost all in the Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary and Batang Ai National Park to the south bordering West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

In Sabah, there are about 11,000 individuals today, the population having declined by over 40% in the last 20 years due mainly to planned conversion of forests to plantations in the eastern lowlands. Drought and forest fires, especially during the El Nino events of 1982-83 and 1997-98, but also 1987 and 1991, contributed to the decline.


Threats

Destruction of natural forests and unreliable food sources.

Wild orang-utan populations need a reliable source of a variety of fruits and young leaves to survive. They can survive only in extensive natural forests. The availability of food all year round means not all forests can support long-term breeding populations.

We now know that this gentle ape can survive only in lowlands - where fertile soils and constant water availability allow steady food production - or where there are several forest types with different fruiting and leaf-producing seasons.

There is little point in putting orang-utans where they have historically not existed, as lack of food supply may eventually cause them to die. There are six areas in Malaysia with quite large populations but this does not mean that any one of these places is unimportant. There is always the risk that one or more populations could be devastated by disease, drought or fires.

Maintaining natural forests with viable wild breeding populations and restoring degraded forests is vital for the continued survival of orang-utans in Malaysia.

Hence, the Sabah government’s initiative to retain the largest orang-utan population in the Ulu Segama-Malua Forest Reserves under sustainable forest management (SFM) deserves full support.

The Deramakot forest management model, which produces controlled amounts of timber for international auction, certified according to international standards since 1997, shows what can be done.

SFM could reduce forest damage and provide enough time for the forest to regenerate. In SFM, reforestation is necessary to ensure the forest rehabilitation or restoration take place in any sustainably managed forest. In the Lower Kinabatangan, various isolated forest patches need to be joined through restoration.

Long Live the Orang Utans...!!!

Cave-in along Tawau-Semporna in Sabah, Malaysia road cuts major link

TAWAU, Sabah, Malaysia, 30 July 2010 as reported by the national news agency - Bernama:

A stretch of the Tawau-Semporna road at Km42 has been closed to traffic following a cave-in, thus cutting the main road link between Tawau and Semporna, Kunak, Lahad Datu and Sandakan.

A check by Bernama showed that the left and right shoulders of the road collapsed last night due to erosion triggered by floods, and rendered the stretch of road unsafe for use.

Sabah Assistant Finance Minister and Apas state assemblyman Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan, who went to the scene, said repair works would take some time and suggested alternative routes to bypass the closed stretch of road.

He advised light vehicles from Tawau to use the Jalan Sungai Burung estate road to get to Semporna, Kunak, Lahad Datu and Sandakan.

Motorists from Semporna, Kunak, Lahad Datu and Sandakan could use the Teck Guan estate road to get to Tawau, he said.

Flash floods also hit 300 houses with some 1,500 villagers in Kampung Pasir Putih.

Tawau Municipal Council president Ismail Mayakub said the floods which hit at 7.45pm receded about three hours later.

He said 180 family heads had registered by 9.30am and that victims putting up at Masjid An- Nur, Kampung Pasir Putih would be given food.

The villagers were advised to be prepared for evacuation as more floods were expected as the weather could deteriorate at any time.

Sarawak Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud gives Oxford protestors the slip

Pehin Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Taib Mahmud has been Sarawak Chief Minister since 1981

As written by Joseph Sipalan, Malaysiakini

Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud gave protestors the slip when he arrived at Oxford University's Said Business School in London, where he was suppose to deliver a keynote address at a forum.

According to reports by freelance journalist Anil Netto, between 30 to 40 protestors, mostly Britons and a handful of Malaysians, had camped outside two entrances to the hall where the forum was to take place.

However, Taib did not use the entrances and it is believed that he used a side entrance instead.

According to Netto, the protestors are unable to enter the forum venue due to the exhorbitant British pound 1,000 entrance fee.

Protestors were seen wielding placards bearing messages such as "Any forest left?", "Stop denying Penan rape" and "Declare your wealth".

30 years of iron grip

Activists from the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), who called Taib “one of Southeast Asia's (most corrupt) politicians”, have sent out emails since Saturday garnering support for the protest that they plan to stage at the Said Business School's entrance.

The longstanding Sarawak chief minister was invited to deliver the opening address at the school's inaugural Islamic Branding and Marketing Forum this morning, London time.

The BMF in an email statement said Oxford has tarnished its reputation by inviting Taib to speak at the forum, claiming the chief minister had pillaged and plundered Sarawak for his own gains during his past three decades in office, at the expense of Sarawakians.

“During his 30 years of iron grip, Taib Mahmud has systematically plundered a country once rich in natural resources, oil and timber. He and his family are now multi-billionaires, while indigenous tribes such as the legendary jungle nomads, the Penan, have been left destitute and robbed of their rightful hunting grounds," it said.

“Taib Mahmud has laughably advertised his UK visit as a promotion of 'green development' in Sarawak and will be focusing on the promotion of Islamic and Halal products, his latest venture, during his visit to Oxford."


Taib going green?

The BMF attacked Abdul Taib's management of Sarawak, accusing him of destroying “all but three percent of the Borneo jungle in the state”.

“Numerous species including the orang utan, proboscis monkey and a plethora of unique plant and animal life have been virtually wiped out by his rapacious and unsustainable plunder of the jungle.

NONE“The Penan are struggling to keep his loggers out of the last corners of their jungle, one of the most precious remaining areas of bio-diversity left on earth.”

The BMF, which has been fighting for Penan rights since Bruno Manser founded it in 1991, also slammed Abdul Taib for refusing to “acknowledge or investigate” recent reports of alleged systematic rape and abuse of Penan women.

It also accused Taib of using his family and cronies to “illegally” take over the state's resources through privatisation, and issuing oil palm and timber concessions following arbitrary state acquisition of native land.

“He now runs the state as a family business, maintained through systematic electoral intimidation and fraud.

“The people of Sarawak are struggling to rid themselves of this man and his parasitical family and to preserve their unique environmental heritage from his further 'business venture'.”

A thorn in Taib's side














Combo pictures of Bruno Manser while living with the Penan between 1984 and 1990


Manser, who was last seen in public on May 25, 2000, was a thorn in Taib's side since the mid 1980s, encouraging the Penan to set up blockades and oppose state-sponsored logging activities.

Bruno Manser spent six years between 1984 to 1990 living with the Penan, evading arrest by local authorities and later slipped from under their noses to return to Switzerland to spread awareness of the Penan's plight.

Among his most outrageous protest stunts was when, in 1999, he landed on the roof of Taib's residence in Kuching using a motorised hang glider.

He also published a book, 'Voices from the Rainforest' in 1992. In 2004 after he went missing, Basel-based publisher Christoph Merian Verlag followed up with 'Dairies from the Rainforest' in German, detailing the extensive notes, photographs and documents compiled by Manser.

On March 10, 2005, the courts in Basel declared Manser missing and presumed dead.

Danau Girang Field Centre, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia, welcomes its third batch

Group picture of Cardiff University students and lecturers at the Danau Girang Field Centre recently.



Cardiff University lecturer, Dr. Ian Vaughan shows student Stephanie Johnson how to ring a bird during a recent study visit to Danau Girang Field Centre.



Cardiff students observing elephants from a boat during the field course.



Cardiff students using a big shot to set up butterfly traps in the canopy at Danau Girang Field Centre.

Kinabatangan, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia : 26 July 2010: Sabah Wildlife Department’s (SWD) field centre located in the Lower Kinabatangan floodplain welcomed its third batch of Cardiff University’s students since the centre opened its doors in July 2008.

Twenty-one second year biology students embarked in a two-week field course focusing on primate communities, bird ringing, butterfly ecology, amphibian and small mammal diversity, and forest ecology.

“Danau Girang is the first field centre set up by the Sabah Wildlife Department, with support from Cardiff University, and it starts to attract more attention from overseas academic institutions,” said SWD Director Dr Laurentius Ambu.

One of the highlights of the field course was the bird ringing activity led by Dr Ian Vaughan, a lecturer and ornithologist at Cardiff University. Since 2008,167 understorey birds were captured and 131 individuals from 30 different species were ringed.

“The main aim is to reveal the assemblage of bird species that use the forest floor and understorey, and to provide some information about their relative densities and movements within the forest,” said Vaughan.

“During the second week of the field course, the students designed their own project and worked in pairs or trios in the forest, looking at butterfly density, comparing density of small mammals in riparian forest, semi-inundated forest and oil palm plantation, looking at abundance and species richness of lizards and amphibians in riparian and semi-inundated forest, and investigation distribution of primates along the river in relation to the proximity of oil palm plantations,” said Dr Benoit Goossens, director of Danau Girang Field Centre and one of the lecturers involved in the field course.

“A troop of 50-60 elephants which stayed in the vicinity of the field centre for several days were the cherry on the cake for the students”, added Goossens.

“The Cardiff students were so lucky to visit Danau Girang as part of their degree, they loved all the different activities on offer: bird ringing, primate survey, frogging, - even facing their fears on the new canopy viewing platform! They were treated with many incredible wildlife sightings – from tarsiers to elephants – and I thoroughly enjoyed showing off this amazing place to them!,” said Jennifer Shepperson, a Cardiff University student and volunteer at DGFC.


The 21 students went back to Europe with plenty of wonderful souvenirs and their head full of images of the rich biodiversity that Sabah harbors in its forests: “My expectations were massively exceeded... just goes to show how incredible this place really is,”

“Memories that will last a lifetime...amazing place, amazing people,” “The landscape is breathtaking, the experience one-of-a-kind, and the people have been wonderful and extremely friendly,” “From baby elephants to a tarsier I am very lucky to have experienced this wonderful place,” and “A truly inspirational 2 weeks. I have seen so much wildlife and have learnt so many new things and just generally had so much fun!” were the few quotes from the students before they left the Kinabatangan.

“These field courses aim at providing yearly assessment on biodiversity present in the highly degraded forests of the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary and help the Sabah Wildlife Department to manage it”, concluded Goossens.