KOTA BHARU: The Kelantan Department of Wildlife Protection and National Parks (Perhilitan) captured a bull elephant in Kampung Laloh, Kuala Krai, here, last Tuesday.
In a statement today, the Kelantan Perhilitan said that the elephant was caught after it received a complaint about wild elephant disturbances from villagers.
“Ten personnel from the Kuala Krai District Perhilitan and the Kelantan Elephant Capture Unit carried out the operation to capture the elephant.
“The operation to capture the elephant also involved 10 Kelantan Perhilitan staff,” said the statement.
According to the Kelantan Perhilitan, the operation to relocate the wild elephant will be carried out tomorrow with the help of two decoy elephants and the staff from the Kuala Gandah National Elephant Conservation Centre in Lanchang, Pahang.
The statement said that the capture of the wild animal brings relief to residents in affected areas, alleviating ongoing losses incurred from crop destruction and property damage resulting from the human-elephant conflict.
However, it said that the relocation of the wild elephant may not provide a long-term solution, especially given the close proximity of villagers’ orchards to the Sungai Rek Permanent Forest Reserve (HSK) area.
The Kelantan Perhilitan believes that the wild elephant population within the HSK is estimated to be more than 20.
Meanwhile, the department said that efforts to reduce human-elephant conflicts in the area have been implemented through advisory services to villagers, especially farmers, encouraging them to take mitigative measures.
“The measures include installing blue LED lights along the pathway that elephants frequently use to enter the orchards and developing an elephant electric fence system,” said the statement. -Bernama
