KOTA KINABALU: Elephant biologist Dr Nurzhafarina Othman (pic) has received the prestigious Whitley Award from the UK-based Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) for her efforts to save Sabah’s endangered Bornean elephants, The Malaysian Reserve reported.
The award was presented by WFN patron Princess Anne during a ceremony in London on April 30, where Farina, as she is known, read a heartfelt letter to the elephants.
Through her nonprofit Seratu Aatai, Farina works with palm oil stakeholders in Lower Kinabatangan to mitigate human-elephant conflict by promoting elephant-friendly coexistence strategies.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});According to WFN, her conservation efforts aim to establish protected corridors for the last 300 Bornean elephants in Sabah, a subspecies that has lost 60% of its forest habitat due to logging and agriculture.
Her work also supports broader biodiversity in the region, benefiting species like orangutans and sun bears, in a landscape increasingly reshaped by economic development.