This project, under the auspices of Danau Girang Field Centre, The School of Biosciences at Cardiff University in UK, University Malaysia Sabah, Hutan and Sabah Wildlife Department, has been set up to monitor and conserve the elephant populations in Sabah.
The Bornean Elephant has been recognised as a distinct sub-species of the Asian Elephant. Declining numbers over the years have prompted a concerted effort to find out how many elephants there are, what they eat, where they go, how to minimise human/elephant conflicts and to prevent extinction. Dung samples were collected over a two year period in the areas shown on the map below, then analysed to ascertain diet and travel patterns of the herds.
The Elephant Conservation Unit was set up in 2003 to ensure the conservation of the elephant population in the Lower Kinabatangan and to reduce the rate of human/elephant conflicts by developing a model community based elephant conflict mitigation squad. The dramatic drop in human elephant conflicts has been very encouraging.
