It seems like just another day brings yet another headline screaming about our colossal neighbors. Just when you thought the tear-jerking saga from Gerik last Mother’s Day couldn’t be topped you know the one where the mama elephant tried to play tug-of-war with a lorry because her poor calf was pinned underneath like a forgotten toy well, buckle up, buttercup. The universe decided to hit rewind and play a slightly different, yet equally tragic, tune today. This time (2nd July 2026) it was a baby elephant, fresh out of its jungle crib, meeting its untimely end courtesy of a Perodua Bezza along Jalan Felda Nitar in Mersing. And its mother? She pulled a seven-hour vigil, refusing to budge from her fallen offspring, probably wondering what fresh hell this concrete ribbon had unleashed upon her family.
Now, I’m no expert, but when a video goes viral showing a heartbroken elephant guarding her dead calf at 2.28 AM, you have to ask yourself: what in the actual blazes is going on? The official report, ever so dry, tells us this particular herd belongs to the “Jamaluang-Mersing ID group.” ID group, eh? It sounds like they’ve got their own little social security numbers, probably for when we inevitably pave over their last remaining patch of green. And the calf? A female, 150 centimeters of pure potential, no tusks yet, front footprint 11 inches, rear 14 centimeters. Because, you know, measuring the exact dimensions of a tragedy makes it all so much more palatable. It’s not just a baby; it’s a statistically significant baby.
Then there’s the human element, because, let’s be honest, we’re always at the centre of our own universe, even when we’re the ones causing the chaos. A 31-year-old fella, minding his own business (or maybe not, given the hour and the elephant), crashes into the calf. The sheer force of it, or maybe just cosmic irony, sends his Perodua Bezza tumbling into a five-meter-deep ravine. Leg injuries, they say.
So, was the driver of that Perodua Bezza speeding so fast that a creature the size of a small car, with a mother elephant probably looming nearby, became invisible? Talk about Gajah Di Depan Mata Tak Nampak an elephant right before your eyes, and you still don't see it. He’s trapped, probably wondering how his modern, metal cocoon failed him so spectacularly against something so organic. It’s a real-life game of Jumanji, only with less Robin Williams and more shattered fiberglass and existential dread.
Perhilitan, bless their cotton socks, sent in the “Elephant Capture Unit” from the Johor Elephant Sanctuary managed to gently persuade the grieving mother, who’s just watched her child get flattened by a glorified sardine can, to kindly return to the forest. Meanwhile, the calf’s carcass, now just a footnote in the grand scheme of human expansion, was buried nearby. And patrols? Oh yes, they’ll be out tonight and tomorrow, ensuring the mother doesn’t, you know, return to the scene of the crime to mourn her child. Because apparently, elephants don’t get the memo about moving on.
And the warning signs? “Elephant crossing,” they say. As if an elephant, lumbering through what used to be its ancestral stomping grounds, needs a little yellow diamond to tell it where to cross. It’s not crossing, folks, its living. We’re the ones doing the crossing, right through their living room. The advice? “Exercise caution when travelling through the area as it is quite dark and serves as an elephant crossing.” Right. Because the darkness is the problem, not the fact that we’ve built a roads through a pachyderm’s pantry.
Or are we just so engrossed in our own little worlds, our phones, our deadlines, and our next TikTok scroll, that we’ve forgotten how to share the planet? It’s a question worth pondering, perhaps, as we navigate our increasingly crowded, and increasingly absurd, existence.
Just try not to hit anything while you’re thinking about it. Especially not a baby elephant. Or its mother. Because she’ll remember. And she’ll wait. And honestly, who can blame her?
ENDS
By
Sam Trailerman
Nganasegaran (tapessam@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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