KOTA KINABALU: A workshop starting today will kickstart efforts to draft a Bornean Banteng Action Plan to be submitted to the Sabah government.
International and local scientists, governmental agencies and industry players are meeting to save the iconic species endemic to the state. The banteng is also known as tembadau.
In a joint statement here, the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) and Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD), which organised the two-day workshop, said they would recommend how to protect the Bornean banteng based on a five-year, state-wide survey conducted by them.
“The action plan will be drafted based on proposed recommendations from the workshop.
“It will be validated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group before it is submitted to the state government for approval,” said DGFC director Dr Benoit Goossens.
The mammal is threatened by heavy poaching, habitat loss and forest fragmentation in Sabah where only last month, three bantengs were killed by hunters in three protected areas in Sabah within three days.
“At this rate, the species will not survive 20 years and we will lose it like we lost our Sumatran rhinoceros,” he said.
A survey using camera traps in several protected and unprotected areas statewide showed that there were only four or five isolated population of banteng.
“One is on the west coast, one or two in central Sabah, one in the southeast and one in the northeast of Sabah.
“The total population is estimated to be around 400 to 500 head, making the Bornean banteng the most endangered large mammal in Sabah,” added Goossens.
Earlier this year, stakeholders have also convened two events to formulate plans for the conservation of the proboscis monkey and Sunda clouded leopard.
He added that DGFC had also been supported by Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD) since April 2011 with a commitment of RM3.96 million over a period of six years to conduct research on the three species.
The action plans for the three species are expected to be ready by early next year.
YSD chairman Tun Musa Hitam has stated that the foundation would wait for the submission of the three action plans to the Sabah government.
The foundation has sponsored one Malaysian student, Lim Hong Ye, who pursued his Master’s degree at Universiti Malaysia Sabah before graduating this year.
He will present his work on the banteng at the workshop today.