Centre has helped revive Asian elephant population

Malaysian police are investigating claims that Canadian women volunteers who worked at an elephant sanctuary in the Southeast Asian nation were drugged and sexually assaulted. The allegations by the Canadians are among several by volunteers from the United States, Sweden, Japan, Italy and United Kingdom who claim they were cheated, intimidated and assaulted while working at the world-renowned Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary in Malaysia's central state of Pahang.

Mek and Bunga - two elephants at the sanctuary

Several Canadians have reported serious problems as a result of responding to offers to do volunteer work with the Utan Bara Adventure Team (UBAT). The work was advertised on UBAT's Web site at "www.ubat.com.my":http://www.ubat.com.my and more recently on "www.myelephants.org":http://www.myelephants.org . Persons interested in doing volunteer work with either organization should contact Foreign Affairs Canada in Ottawa (ask for the Malaysian Desk Officer in Consular Case Management) or the Canadian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur," the DFAIT notice states.

Volunteers at the Kuala Gandah elephant sanctuary

Officials from Canada's Department for Foreign Affairs could not be reached for comment on the allegations.

The New Straits Times reported that at least six Canadian women volunteers who worked at the elephant sanctuary have alleged that they were victims of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault.

Two of them lodged official complaints when they returned to Canada while the others sounded out Canadian authorities over the alleged abuses but stopped short of making official complaints, the paper said.

The Canadian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur said that two complaints were received in 1999 against an individual who conducted survival training courses and who is a long-time volunteer at the elephant sanctuary.

Nasharuddin Othman, officer-in-charge of the elephant sancutuary

But the reluctance of victims to return to Malaysia and testify against the suspect made it difficult for police to take any action, local media reports said.

However, none of the foreign victims lodged police reports in Malaysia as they did not have clear recollections of their ordeal. Some claimed they were drugged before being sexually assaulted.

The New Straits Times said several of the foreign victims, fearing for their safety, returned to their home countries and lodged reports with their foreign ministries. To date, none are willing to return to Malaysia to assist in police investigations.

The paper said the police probe by the Serious Crimes branch remains "active".

Reacting to the allegations, Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks director-general Musa Nordin has ordered a new investigation into the operations of the elephant sanctuary.

Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks established the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary in 1989.

Niki, a volunteer from West Virginia University, works with one of the pachyderm residents

Over the past 25 years the team has successfully relocated hundreds of Asian elephants to national parks, raising the wild elephant population in Malaysia from an alarming low of 500 in the seventies to approximately 1200 now.

The team, was the subject of a National Geographic documentary called 'Return to the Wild.'

Chek Mek and Mek Bunga are the centre's two oldest elephants. Both are over 50 years old and are Kuala Gandah celebrities.

They came to Malaysia from India in the 1970s.

Swee Lee King, a Burmese elephant at Kuala Gandah was a star in the movie Anna and the King. She died in May 2001 after a tree fell on her.

Some of the elephants from Kuala Gandah were used in the film Anna and the King featuring Jodie Foster and Hong Kong superstar Chow-Yun Fatt.