KOTA KINABALU: Sabah said it is committed in having a sustainable landscape in support of free-ranging breeding elephant populations in the state.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said to save the pachyderms, all stakeholders would have to learn to co-exist with the endangered species to preserve them.
Sabah recorded 145 elephant casualties between 2010 and 2019, whereby most of them being killed in palm oil plantation or forest reserves.
"Around half of these deaths were either caused by gunshot wounds or suspected poisoning while quite a number of cases remain unsolved.
"I sincerely believe that this meeting is the perfect venue to openly discuss and to look for pragmatic solutions to address this escalating mortality in Sabah's elephant population," Shafie said during the opening of the 10th IUCN Asian Elephant Specialist group (AsESG) meeting held for the first time here, today.
His speech was read out by his deputy Datuk Christina Liew, who is also Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment minister.
"Maybe we need to accept the fact, that in reality, the elephants were here first, and it is us humans who are the trespassers.
"Thus, the time has come for us to realise the fact that we must treat elephants with humility and respect.
"Through land sparing and land sharing, we must start coexisting with our Borneon elephants," he added.
Also present were Tourism, Culture and Environment assistant minister Assafal Alian, Permanent Secretary Datuk William Baya, Sabah Wildlife director Augustine Tuuga and AsESG chairman Vivek Menon.
The three-day meeting, which began yesterday, saw 175 participants comprising AeESG members, government officials from 13 Asian elephant range countries, as well as presenters and observers from nine other "non-elephant" countries.
At a press conference later, Liew said the state government would start meeting with stakeholders from next year onwards to gazette the 25,000 hectare land in Lower Kinabatangan as a wildlife sanctuary.
There will be food planted along the corridor for the elephants so that they will not go to agricultural and housing areas.
"It is one of the approaches that we are adopting to conserve the species, besides providing patches of food sanctuary in other areas to be identified."