KOTA KINABALU: Poaching needs to be eradicated to save the endangered Bornean banteng, also known as tembadau, from facing extinction in Sabah.
There are about 320 bantengs left in the state's forest. This was based on a population viability modelling exercise (PVA) carried out at an international workshop organised on the conservation of the Bornean banteng in 2017.
The figure showed that if only one per cent of the population was hunted in Sabah, the growth would cease in the smallest northeast and Sipitang management unit areas, said Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) director and Cardiff University professor Dr Benoit Goossens.
"In the southeast and central unit areas, growth would cease if 2 and 4 per cent of the bantengs are hunted, respectively.
"Extinction was estimated at 21 to 39 years if 5 per cent of the population is hunted every year, with the central management unit getting extinct last," said Goossens.
To make sure the survival and recovery of the banteng, the population was supplemented with captive-bred individuals, he suggested in a scientific paper recently published in the journal for endangered species research, scientists and wildlife managers.
DGFC, Cardiff University and Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) collated the first population parameters for the endangered Bornean banteng by developing population models to simulate the effect of different hunting offtake rates.
"Our findings from camera trap surveys suggested that the banteng population in Sabah is geographically divided in four management unit areas based on connectivity: the northeast (with Paitan and Sugut Forest Reserves); Sipitang Forest Reserve in the west; central (Deramakot, Tangkulap, Malua, Kuamut and many others forest reserves) and southeast (Kulamba and Tabin Wildlife Reserves) which all require active management to prevent further population decline and local extinction," said Dr Penny Gardner, who led the state-wide banteng survey project for DGFC and SWD.
"An action plan for Sabah was then drafted and approved by the State Government in June 2019," said SWD assistant director and head of enforcement Mohd Soffian Abu Bakar.
Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD) continued its support for the project through funding for PROTECT, a boots-on-the-ground enforcement team under the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD).
"As another boost to wildlife enforcement, the US Department of State through its Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) also provided funding to us in 2019 to set up our own intelligence and forensic units," Soffian said.
SWD director Augustine Tuuga said: "Our department takes poaching of our totally protected species very seriously and we are currently prosecuting a man for possessing 36.10kg of banteng meat in Kota Belud.
"Hunting of our Schedule 1 species has to stop, we cannot afford to lose them."