(MY) baby jumbo

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Sunday July 2, 2006 _ The Star

 

Death of jumbo raises questions

 

The death of the 18-month-old baby elephant affectionately called Mat Chepor

has struck a chord in the heart of many who are puzzled by the whole

incident. K. S. USHA DEVI reports.

 

*T*HE death of Mat Chepor, an 18-month-old baby elephant, came as a shock to

many people because a day earlier, it had seemed to be in a healthy

condition.

 

The orphaned calf, which was found wandering around in the Piah Forest

reserve apparently searching for its mother which had been shot by hunters,

was in the process of being relocated to the Kuala Gandah Elephant

Translocation Unit in Pahang to join a herd of 11 elephants.

 

But this was not to be. Just 10m away from the trailer at the Felcra Kampong

Chepor oil palm estate, Mat Chepor collapsed. Despite efforts by Wildlife

and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) rangers from Perak and Pahang to

keep him alive, the calf grew weaker overnight and died 18 hours later.

 

Details of the episode are still sketchy, but what is clear is that there is

concern over how the whole process of translocation of wild animals has to

be carried out.

 

Dr Susan Mikota, co-founder and director of Veterinary Programmes and

Research for Elephant Care International (*www.elephantcare. org*), says

that generally there is always the possibility that an individual animal can

have a different reaction to a particular drug.

 

" Xylazine (the generic name for sedative llium Xylazil-100) is commonly used

for elephants and is generally a safe drug. I have used it extensively

myself, " says Mikota via an e-mail interview.

 

But unexpected reactions do occur, as Mikota recalls an incident when she

gave the drug to two captured elephants in Indonesia. They became

over-sedated and fell down when they should have been standing. However,

they responded to the reversal agent that was given to them.

 

According to Mikota, both the elephants were lactating and that may have

affected their metabolism, which in turn affected their response to the

sedative.

 

" In the case of Mat Chepor, dehydration could have affected the drug

metabolism, " she says, adding that the 20mg given is considered a low

dosage.

 

The typical dosage for Xylazine in Asian elephants is 0.08mg/kg, she says.

The calculated dosage for an elephant between 250kg and 400kg would be

between 20mg and 32mg.

 

" It is certainly ideal to have the known weight of the elephant to calculate

a drug dose but this is obviously not possible under field conditions, " says

Mikota.

 

As for the reversal agent used to revive the elephant, Mikota says that this

is common practice and it was very unlikely that the reversal agent caused

any problem.

 

At the post-mortem done on the calf, it was revealed that Mat Chepor was

also suffering from intestinal erosion, dehydration and lack of nutrition.

These could have developed when it was wandering on its own at a swampy area

in Lenggong, Perak. And because of the trauma it had undergone, the animal

was highly likely to have been stressed.

 

Elephants are known to be highly intelligent and have strong social bonds.

Losing its mother in such an inhumane manner would have certainly stressed

Mat Chepor.

 

" In addition, this is a wild animal that does not understand that humans are

trying to help. So the efforts to capture and move the calf to a safe haven

were also stressful, " says Mikota.

 

" There is a condition called capture myopathy that can result from chasing

an animal or from physical or chemical restraint, " she explains.

 

" This condition drastically affects the balance in the body and is often

unpredictable and possibly fatal. "

 

 

Before deciding whether they want to move an elephant from the jungle to a

sanctuary or any other place, there are a number of things to consider, says

Raymond Alfred, Project Manager for WWF-SOREL (Sabah Orang Utan, Rhinoceros

and Elephant Strategy Landscape).

 

" The first that needs to be checked is if there is any injury to the

elephant. We treat it first and monitor the health condition, " he says.

 

" When releasing it in a sanctuary, it is better to track or monitor the

elephant for at least two to three weeks to ensure that it is accepted by

other elephant groups, " he adds.

 

It is also essential that during translocation, adequate manpower, including

a veterinarian, is on hand and that suitable food is prepared for the

elephant, he says.

 

According to Alfred, newly released elephants take at least three to five

weeks to be accepted by the other elephants in the group. Being a

matriarchal species, female elephants are more readily accepted than males.

 

 

In a situation of lost elephants, Alfred, who has been working with the

pachyderm in Sabah for seven years and is pursuing a doctorate in elephant

studies, says the first thing to do is capture the animal after ensuring

that it is really lost from its group.

 

And if the elephant is below four years old, the animal should be monitored

and cared for properly by giving it milk and suitable food for nutrition.

 

" Basically, baby elephants should not be released into the forest

immediately as the mother's milk is very important to provide natural

antibodies to the calf, " says Alfred.

 

" They only stop drinking mother's milk after reaching four to five years

old, " he points out.

 

" The recent incident involving the young stray (Mat Chepor) was tragic and

could have been prevented, " says Jau Chan, one of the co-founders of

Awareness and Preservation of Elephants Survival (APES).

 

Launched in 2005, APES strives to play an important role in educating the

public, especially youths, about the existence of elephants in Peninsular

Malaysia and the different issues that affect their survival.

 

" There are many factors that need to be taken into consideration when it

comes to rescuing a stray. Elephants are creatures that mourn as humans do.

The death could have been as much psychological as it was physical, " he

says.

 

APES is working on educating small groups to give them first-hand

experiences with elephants in the various sanctuaries around Malaysia.

 

It has, together with *The Star,* adopted a baby elephant called Siput @

Embun in their support of elephant conservation work. The jumbo lives in the

Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary in Pahang. " We aim to use public awareness

as a stepping stone to protect the elephants and prevent misunderstandings

between man and animal, " says Chan, who stresses that the killing of

elephants, by hunters or angry farm owners, is unwarranted.

 

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Sunday July 2, 2006

 

Let Mat Chepor's death be a lesson to all

 

*Comment by HILARY CHIEW*

 

THERE is always an inherent risk in wildlife immobilisation but failure to

prepare for the worst is as good as signing the death warrant of the

animal.

 

While lab results are not available immediately, preliminary analysis of the

events leading up to the collapse of the baby elephant Mat Chepor raised the

question of competency of the wildlife rangers and the urgency the

Department of Wildlife and National Park (Perhilitan) places on handling

displaced animals.

 

Why did it take five days before the Elephant Unit came for the baby

elephant? Within these five days, it is understood that the village had

taken on a carnival-like atmosphere. Scores of villagers and curious public

were turning up to get a glimpse of the orphaned elephant.

 

Elephant experts said the presence of humans is a tremendous stress to a

young elephant that is already traumatised by the loss of its mother,

detached from its herd and chained up.

 

" This is a herd animal, psychologically it was in deep stress. The public

may not know better but Perhilitan should have controlled the situation, "

said a source who requested anonymity.

 

" The elephant was reported to be in a healthy condition when it was first

caught. To have its condition deteriorate that quickly points to poor

handling. "

 

As for the use of drugs, he said Mat Chepor did not need to be sedated on

the day it was to be relocated. The work elephants of the unit could have

been used to accompany the 18-month-old jumbo onto the truck. Work elephants

are commonly used in elephant translocation to calm down even the adult

animals.

 

He said the dosage used may have adhered to standard practice but it is

meant for a healthy animal with no complications.

 

" Did anyone notice that the calf was not well and review the actions to be

taken first instead of following the laid down rules? It is a big risk to

drug an animal that is weak, " he added.

 

And why was there no veterinarian in the team? It wasn't until 12 hours

later that Taiping Zoo director Dr Kevin Lazarus was brought in; by then

precious time had been wasted while the poor creature lay on the ground

without any professional help.

 

It is ironic and frustrating that while Perhilitan's elephant experts are

widely sought by neighbouring countries, Mat Chepor had to die in the hands

of incompetent handlers.

 

The death of Mat Chepor is not an isolated case. In May, a displaced tapir

captured in Sungkai had its legs tied up and died by the time it got to the

Sg Dusun breeding centre.

 

A wildlife biologist familiar with the issue of wildlife management

sympathises with Perhilitan's predicament.

 

" Perhilitan is pushed by everybody to do the dirty job. More and more

animals are displaced due to habitat destruction and these are putting

pressure on Perhilitan, " he said.

 

He said the backwater department had itself been neglected for far too long;

it doesn't attract the best brains and is left to its own device to cope

with emerging challenges.

 

The death of Mat Chepor is a lesson for all. Hopefully, there will be a

concerted effort by the government to tackle this long-standing issue of

displaced animals.

 

" A holistic plan should start with protecting whatever natural forest cover

that is left; followed by a management plan on displaced animals.

 

" There must be allocation for captive facilities and those handling the

animals must be given professional training, " said the biologist.