KUALA TERENGGANU: The Terengganu Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) has launched an operation to capture a wild elephant reportedly roaming near a village in the Setiu district.
Its director Loo Kean Seong said the Terengganu Perhilitan had recently received a report from Kampung Seri Bayas residents who claimed that the wild animal had destroyed their crops.
“Previously, the Terengganu Perhilitan had carried out an operation to drive off a herd of three wild elephants.
“Two of them were safely redirected back into the forest reserve area, but one elephant is believed to have separated from the others. So, this operation is launched to capture the elephant,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Meanwhile, Wan Jusih Wan Abdullah, 73, claimed that his 1.8-hectare (4.5-acre) oil palm plantation was encroached upon by the wild elephant two weeks ago and earlier this month.
According to him, various efforts have been made to prevent the elephant from further destroying his crops, but to no avail.
“The elephant has destroyed about 20 acres (over eight hectares) of crops. I am worried that if action is not taken soon, we will suffer more losses,” he said, adding that such incidents have been occurring for the past few years. - Bernama