Monday, August 27, 2007

Cross Country: Elephant’s relocation a village affair

T. N. Alagesh, New Straits Times
August 27, 2007

JERANTUT: Usually quiet Kampung Baru was packed with hundreds of villagers and curious on-lookers on Friday.

The centre of attention was a male elephant that had been captured in the nearby jungle.

Twenty Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) officers were attempting to relocate him to the Kenyir Lake forest in Terengganu, and found the crowd a nuisance.

Some on-lookers even followed the officers into the jungle for a closer look at the animal, despite many warnings from the officers to keep their distance.

The officers brought along female elephants Cek Mek and Lokimala, from the Kuala Gandah elephant sanctuary, to coax the male elephant to climb into the back of the lorry without fuss.

The male had reportedly damaged villagers’ fruit orchards. A team of seven officers tracked him for five days before finding him a week ago.

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