Sabah Records 20 Wild Elephant Deaths in 2026 as Habitat Pressures Persist
Six deaths involved gunshots, while conservation groups are working with communities and plantations to reconnect fragmented forests.
Sabah recorded 20 wild elephant deaths between January and Oct. 8, 2026, including six involving gunshots, according to a new report citing state officials. The figures put renewed attention on the protection of elephants in a landscape where forests, farms and settlements overlap.
The breakdown included one electrocution, five cases described as systemic, two decomposed carcasses and six other traumatic injuries, Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Jafry Ariffin told the Daily Express on Oct. 8.
Jafry cautioned against attributing every death to poaching or retaliatory killing. Illness, natural causes and accidents can also kill elephants, he said, and suspected illegal activity would be investigated.
Sabah Wildlife Department Director Mohd Soffian Abu Bakar said 225 community rangers had been appointed honorary wildlife wardens under the federally funded Biodiversity Patrolling and Protection Programme. Community and plantation elephant-control teams had also received training in early mitigation, the newspaper reported.
An Endangered Population
The mortality report comes against a longer decline in the Bornean elephant population. The International Union for Conservation of Nature classified the animals as Endangered in June 2024, assessing them for the first time as a distinct subspecies of the Asian elephant.
That assessment estimated about 1,000 animals remained in the wild. It is a historical estimate associated with the 2024 assessment, rather than a new count for October 2026.
Logging initially destroyed much of their habitat, while agricultural expansion, timber plantations, mining and major infrastructure projects have added pressure, IUCN said. Ivory poaching, vehicle collisions and accidental ingestion of agricultural chemicals are additional threats identified by the organization.
The animals live mainly in Sabah, with a smaller population in Indonesian Kalimantan. IUCN's account of the assessment estimated that about 60% of their forest habitat had disappeared over the preceding four decades, largely through logging and oil palm cultivation.
Forest fragmentation limits the space available to herds. IUCN identified corridors through plantations as an urgent need: connections between forest patches would give elephants access to more food and allow different groups to mix, helping preserve genetic diversity.
Working With Farmers and Plantations
Efforts to build those connections also have to address the livelihoods of people sharing the landscape. In Lower Kinabatangan, conservationist Farina Othman and the nonprofit Seratu Aatai have worked with plantation companies and independent smallholders on coexistence, according to the Whitley Fund for Nature's account of her 2025 award.
The fund described a project to create a protected corridor network and improve practices around fencing and habitat connectivity. Its planned citizen-science work included training plantation personnel to identify individual elephants and monitor herd movements, with data to be shared with the Sabah Wildlife Department and other agencies.
The approach recognizes that farms are part of the elephants' remaining range. The award announcement described Lower Kinabatangan as a mosaic of large estates, small family farms and protected forest fragments. Elephants moving through it can create difficulties for farmers trying to safeguard their livelihoods.
Better information about movement can support decisions on where to maintain connections and how to reduce dangerous encounters. The project also envisaged monitoring the effectiveness of corridors and fencing practices, rather than treating their installation alone as proof of success.
Protection Beyond Individual Incidents
Elephants have wider ecological importance. They disperse seeds and create clearings in rainforests, researchers explained in a 2024 Natural History Museum account of the subspecies' recognition. Protecting the large areas they require can therefore benefit other wildlife sharing those forests.
The museum's researchers called for forest patches to be protected and connected, including through wildlife corridors in oil palm landscapes. They also stressed work with local people to reduce conflict.
Sabah's latest death count documents individual losses. The conservation response described by researchers and field organizations addresses a broader problem: keeping enough connected habitat available while helping neighboring communities live safely alongside elephants.