For about a week in early June 1990, Singaporeans were captivated by media reports of runaway elephants on Pulau Tekong. This was the first time that elephants had been known to swim across the Johor Straits onto Tekong in recent history. The island is used by the Singapore Armed Forces for military training. The wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) were first sighted by national servicemen on 29 May 1990. With the collaboration and co-operation of the Singapore and Malaysian governments, the Singapore Zoo and Malaysian wildlife authorities and the Tekong army personnel, the bull elephants were captured about a week later on 7 June 1990.
Description
On 29 May 1990, national servicemen on Pulau Tekong spotted a family of three elephants while out training in the jungles of the island. From that first sighting onwards, there was great media attention on the presence of these wild animals on the island. Representatives from the local and foreign press, such as the Malaysian New Straits Times, picked up news of this unique event. All were interested on how the elephants got to the island, where they could currently be, how to recapture them, who should recapture them and what to do with them once recaptured.
The three wild elephants had apparently swum 1.5 km. across the Johor Straits to reach Pulau Tekong. They were probably dislocated from their natural habitat in the jungles of eastern Johor by logging and forest-clearing activities. Such activities have considerably reduced the natural habitat of elephants with only an estimated 1,000 wild elephants remaining.
After that first sighting, the elephants were not seen again for about a week. However, their presence on the island was seen in evidence such as uprooted coconut trees, trampled grass, foot prints and droppings. Elephant damage occurred close to some built-up area with one location, a mere 20-minute drive from the island's jetty.
Contrary to public opinion, the authorities felt that leaving the wild elephants in the jungles of Tekong, would prove unsafe as they could be unintentionally harmed by military live firing exercises or they in turn could harm and attack people when unduly agitated. Hence, it was felt that it would be best for all concerned if the elephants were captured. As male elephants are difficult to manage during musth, a period when they are sexually active, the Singapore Zoo preferred not to retain them. Once recaptured, the plan was thus to have Malaysia take them back but to a different location, to prevent them from swimming back to Tekong island in the future.
Within the week, the Defence Ministry, which uses the island for its armed forces' military training, had put the Singapore Zoo in charge of capturing and translocating the wild elephants. The Singapore Zoo also called upon the Malaysian Wildlife Department's Elephant Capture and Translocation Unit (ECTU) to help in its operation. Expert trackers, trained monitor elephants, tranquillisers and heavy security were all part of the elaborate plan to recapture the runaway elephants.
The relevant Malaysian wildlife authorities arrived on Tekong island on 6 June 1990 under police escort. This was because they had brought with them their lorries and trained or monitor elephants to help in the relocation process. The Malaysian authorities were certain that the group of elephants spotted were from a herd of seven seen around Pengerang, located on the eastern part of Johor. With their arrival, all the parties involved set to the task of tracking and capturing the wild elephants. The six-man team from Malaysia's ECTU managed to track down the elephants' trail by studying the traces the elephants left behind: the droppings, the trampled vegetation and the footprints.
On the morning of 7 June 1990, two of the elephants, both males of about 2.3 m. tall were finally recaptured. The third male elephant, about 2 m. tall was caught later in the afternoon. Once the animals were sighted, they were tranquillised and chained to a large tree to prevent them from escaping. However, the third elephant eluded them when the trackers darted the other two with tranquillisers. Hence, the trackers went back to the forest again in the afternoon, to look for the third elephant. As they had expected, the third elephant returned to the same spot where the two bigger other elephants were chained and was subsequently captured. Tracking and recapturing the elephants were only the first two steps in the elaborate process.
Next, the elephants had to be translocated from the island. For this, the Malaysian team used its two trained elephants, Cek Mek and Mek Bunga, and its two lorries. Once the tranquillised wild elephant was chained to the tree, the trained elephants were brought to the spot. The wild elephant was then chained between both the trained elephants. The subdued wild elephant followed the lead of the trained elephants, which guided it to the waiting lorry. When it was loaded onto the lorry, its front legs were tied together to restrict movement while its back legs were tied to the lorry. The same procedure was carried out with the second wild elephant. It took two hours to get just one elephant onto the lorry.
By the evening of 9 June 1990, two elephants were loaded onto the two lorries and were taken back to Malaysia. The third elephant was loaded and taken back to Malaysia the next morning on 10 June. The elephants were given new homes in a forest reserve in Johor.
All parties involved in their capture and translocation received praises from international conservation groups, such as the Asian Elephant Specialists Group, in handling the 'crisis'. Mr. Mohd Shariff Daim, head of the Malaysian's ECTU had said that the capture of the elephants was made easier by the conditions of Tekong itself as it is less hilly than Malaysia. Furthermore, there were many tracks in the forest that allowed the men and vehicles to get close to the wild elephants. In addition, he said that the wild elephants were in good condition upon recapture. They seemed to have had a happy stay on Tekong island enjoying the plentiful food available to them, in the form of their favourite meal - coconut shoots.
However, within a year, another runaway elephant had made its way from Johor to Pulau Ubin. Wild elephants had affected villages and crops in Johor as their natural habitat was slowly being reduced. Thus by the Malaysian government decided to relocate at least 20 wild elephants in south Johor including these four runaways to the Endau Rompin National Park between Pahang and Johor.
Timeline
29 May 1990 : National servicemen spot a family of three elephants whilst training on Tekong
6 June 1990 : Malaysian wildlife authorities arrive on Tekong to help in the capture of the runaway elephants
10 June 1990 : All three elephants are captured and relocated to the jungles of Johor
April 1991 : Wild elephants in South Johor are moved to Rompin Endau National Park as many had had their natural habitat was cleared and had begun affecting villages in their search for food.
Author
Nureza Ahmad
References
Koh, J. T. (2001, March 4). Ubin elephant goes after two Frenchmen. The Straits Times, p. 20.
Rohaniah S. (1991, April 5). Wild jumbos may be moved from south Johor. The Straits Times, p. 31.
Rohaniah S. (1990, June 10). Praise for join Singapore, Malaysia rescue team. The Straits Times, p. 3.
Rohaniah S. (1990, June 9). Last elephant trapped. The Staits Times, p. 24.
Rohaniah S. (1990, June 7). Trackers hot on trail of runaway jumbos. The Straits Times, p.18.
Rohaniah S. (1990, June 8). Trapped: Two of Tekong's three elephants. The Straits Times, p. 1
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2004). The care and management of domesticated elephants in Malaysia. Retrieved March 30, 2004, from www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/AD031E/ad031e0h.htm
The Kuala Gandah Elephant Orphanage Sanctuary Malaysia. (n.d.). "Selamat Datang" to Kuala Gandah!. Retrieved March 30, 2004, from www.myelephants.org/kghistory.html
Further Readings
Hammatt, H. (2002-2003). Elephant Care International. Retrieved May 17, 2004, from www.elephantcare.org
The information in this article is valid as at 2004 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete istory on the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
