Rogue elephant transferred to Perak

KUALA KRAI - A twenty year old wild elephant from Kampung Sungai Taku, Pasir Kelang here has been evacuated to the Royal Belum National Park in Perak today.

The two tonne elephant had been causing havoc among residents in the area as his habitat had been destroyed.

The Kelantan Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) had to remove the elephant from the area after efforts to coax him back into the Sokor Taku jungle failed.

Kelantan Perhilitan director, Mohamed Hafid Rohani said the elephant had to be captured to avoid him from injuring himself and the people around him.

"Because of his little adventure into the village, he has caused damages of up to RM65,000," he said in a statement.

Mohamed said the operations was conducted together with the National Elephant conservation centre using two other elephants named Rambai and Abot.

"This is not exactly a long term solution to the problem of elephants losing their homes and trespassing into villages and destroying homes and crops.

"There might be more elephants coming in a matter of months as they are attracted to the bananas and palm oil coconuts grown by the villagers," he said.

Mohamed added a proposal has been put forth to install an electric gate specifically for elephants to avoid them from entering the area and destroying the crops.

"However the gates need to be installed according to the correct specifications," he elaborated.