Elephant killed in early morning crash with trailer

KOTA TINGGI: An adult female elephant died after the startled animal charged a trailer at Batu 13 along the Jalan Mersing-Kota Tinggi road here.

Johor Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) director Jamalun Nasir Ibrahim said the incident occurred near the Panti forest reserve at around 2am on Monday morning (May 21).

He said initial investigations found that the incident happened when the driver of another car turned on the high beam of his headlights when he saw a herd of elephants crossing the road.

“This startled one of the elephants and it was hit by a trailer which was travelling from Terengganu to Singapore. The elephant died at the scene and was less than ten years old,” said Jamalun.



He advised any road users not to provoke animals by honking or turning on their high beam to avoid startling the animal and provoking it to attack.

Kota Tinggi OCPD Supt Ashmon Bajah confirmed that the incident took place and said the driver did not suffer any injuries.


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Animal activists: Bad idea to relocate wild elephant that attacked lorry driver

Animal activists are not keen on the idea of tracking down and relocating a wild elephant that attacked a lorry driver last week as suggested by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

Former Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) president Prof Maketab Mohamed said relocating the elephant will not solve any problems.

“This idea is absurd. How will relocating the elephant solve any problem? On top of that, how about other elephants in the area? Does the ministry plan to relocate all of them?” he asked. 

Speaking to Malay Mail, Maketab said the authorities should instead investigate why the elephant attacked the lorry driver.

“There is a possibility that the victim had tried to take photos of the mammal and the flash from the mobile phone could have triggered the attack,” he said.

On Feb 2, a 69-year-old lorry driver suffered broken bones and serious injuries to his neck after he was attacked by a wild elephant near Gerik.

M. Paramanazan, from Sungai Siput Utara, was stomped by the elephant along KM19 of the East-West Highway at 4.30pm after he stopped his lorry to look at the wild beast.

After the incident, Wan Junaidi was reported as saying that the ministry would track down and relocate the elephant in question.

He said the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) would move the elephant to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary (National Elephant Conservation Centre).

Maketab said before making major decision, the ministry should advise motorists travelling along the Gerik to Jeli Highway to not provoke the animals if they ever come across it.

“Even honking at the elephants, can be a dangerous move as the noise might irritate them,” he said.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia field officer Meor Razak Meor Abdul Rahman said it would be an uphill task for Perhilitan to track down the elephant as its roaming grounds covered Temenggor to Royal Belum.

 “Even if you find the herd, how would you determine which elephant actually trampled the lorry driver?” he asked.

 Agreeing with Maketab that the cause of the attack should be determined first, Meor Razak said the elephant would not have attacked the victim without being provoked first.

He also suggested that Perhilitan provide more information to motorists instead of just putting up animal crossing signboards.

“Presently, the signboards only warn motorists of passing elephants in the area. There should be a do’s and dont’s if one encounters a herd of elephants,” he added.

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Man seriously injured after being trampled by elephant on Malaysian highway

GERIK, Perak: A man was seriously injured after he was trampled by an elephant on Malaysia's Gerik-Jeli East-West Highway between Perak and Kelantan, at about 4.30pm on Thursday (Feb 1). Gerik police chief Superintendent Ismail Che Isa said the victim, Mr M Paramanazan, 69, fractured his left arm ...

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Malaysian elephant roams into Yala, kills rubber tapper

A rubber tapper in Yala, age 75, was killed early Tuesday by a wild elephant that had ventured across the border from Malaysia.

Chaiwat In-on, assistant chief of Bannang Sata, was alerted at 7.30am of the death of Sao Somyos, a resident of Moo 5 village in Tambon Tham Thalu.

The man’s severely damaged body was lying near his hut on the rubber plantation, surrounded by elephant footprints.

Sansern Thep-osoth, chief of Bang Lang National Park, said the animal was a wild elephant that had crossed through the border forest from Malaysia.

Sansern said park officials had already driven it back once, but it was lured by crops on the Thai side.

A wild elephant killed another villager in Yala’s Betong district several months ago, he noted.

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Residents worry over encroachment of wild elephants at school

The appearance of few wild elephants at a school in Bandar Penawar here has caused panic to the people as the uninvited guests has damaged some of the school’s property here in Kota Tinggi.
KOTA TINGGI: Several wild elephants that entered school grounds in Bandar Penawar here are causing panic among residents.

They are urging the Johor Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) to come up with long-term solutions to prevent the elephants from encroaching their settlements.

The pictures of the wild elephants, which had damaged the school’s property, went viral on Facebook since Sept 3.

It had received over 1,000 likes and more than 900 shares with netizens expressing their concern.
Zone Eight residents representative committee chairman Abdul Wahab Manan said on Tuesday that the herd had destroyed the landscaping at the school.

“Fortunately, no one was injured as the school was closed for the long break. This is the first time that wild elephants have encroached into settlements,” he said.

Abdul Wahab hoped Perhilitan and the Pengerang local council will work together to ensure that wild elephants do not trespass again.

Johor Perhilitan director Jamalun Nasir said the department would investigate the incident.
He believed the wild elephants, which came from the Panti forests and Felda settlement areas in the Kota Tinggi district, had strayed into the settlements.

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1,000 villagers in Pahang under siege by elephants

MORE than 1,000 residents at three villages in Jerantut, Pahang, have been living on the edge over the past week.

They face a risk of being attacked by a herd of 11 wild elephants, which have destroyed more than 50ha of their banana and oil palm smallholdings.

Pulau Tawar asssemblyman Dr Ahmad Shukri Ismail said the pachyderm attacks began last Friday, and continued the past week, forcing residents to seek assistance from the Pahang National Parks and Wildlife Department (Perhilitan).

“The animals also destroyed the plants and tried to approach the houses of villagers, prompting us to implement tight controls for the people’s safety.

“Among the affected villages are Kampung Kelola, Kampung Bukit Nikmat and Kampung Batu Leja,” he said yesterday after visiting the affected villagers whose property was destroyed during the incident.

While disclosing that the last time the area faced attacks from wild elephants was in 2003, Ahmad Shukri did not deny that this time, the attacks were the result of extensive forest exploration in nearby areas.

He said he would propose to the state government to create a protected area for elephants and other wildlife in an area measuring 12,140ha to preserve their habitat.

“We will hold a special meeting on August 22 at Perhilitan in Kuantan to discuss the matter,” he added.

Meanwhile, Pahang Perhilitan director Ahmad Azhar Mohammed said his department was devising a way to keep the animals in their habitat to ensure the safety of villagers.

“We believe these wild elephants are from the nearby forest reserve, searching for food, and we must take swift action to prevent the villages from becoming their new habitat,” he noted.

Among the methods used are firecrackers, blue LED lights and firing gunshots into the air to scare the herd from approaching the villages.

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(The Star) RM15mil sanctuary for elephants soon

Work on the first phase of the RM15mil Johor Elephant Sanctuary is underway and will provide a safe home for about 15 elephants.

Johor Health, Environment, Information and Education Committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat said a contractor was appointed in May to start work on the 100ha project.

“The first phase will see about 15 elephants being housed in the sanctuary located along Jalan Lombong, not far from the Kota Tinggi waterfall, where the wild animals can roam freely,” he said.

He said the first phase was scheduled for completion at the end of next year and with that, help improve the conflict between wild elephants and humans in Kluang and Kota Tinggi.

He added that the sanctuary would also doubled as a tourism attraction for nature lovers to get close to the elephants.

“Johor’s vast forests are habitats to about 140 wild elephants where Segamat, Kluang, Mersing and Kota Tinggi are their stomping grounds,” he said.

The rapid developments and deforestation leading to the shrinking of the wild animals’ natural habitat have caused the animals to enter villages in search of food, creating conflicts with humans.

Ayub said the state received 75 complaints from residents and villagers of wild elephants encroaching into their farms and villages from January to May this year.

The highest complaints came from Kluang and Kota Tinggi with Kampung Sri Lukut and Mawai respectively being the most affected villages, he said.

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) received an average 181 complaints from villagers and the agricultural industry each year from 2011 to 2016 with damages amounting to about RM1.2mil annually.

Ayub said since 2008 to May this year, Perhilitan transferred 48 wild elephants out of Kluang alone and each transfer process cost about RM50,000.

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Elephant boos couple who poos

TAIPING: It’s quite a tusk to find a place to poo when elephants could be around.
Two colleagues, a man and a woman, found that out the hard way when they were attacked by an elephant on the East-West Expressway near Gerik.

The pair had stopped their car on the highway, some 20km from Gerik, at about 5.30pm on Friday to relieve themselves from stomach aches.
The man, 48, and his 40-year-old female colleague from Jakarta, had got out from their car and gone behind some bushes by the roadside when the pachyderm pounced on them.
The man’s brother, known as Robert, said the victims had been on their way to Penang after a business event in Terengganu, reported The Star.

“He was relieving himself when he saw a ‘rock’ moving.
“He tried to run but was nudged by the elephant’s trunk and fell down,” Robert said at the Taiping Hospital where both victims are being treated.
“The elephant then stepped on him,” he added.
Robert said the woman, shocked by the incident, ran and tripped, injuring herself.
Perak Health Committee chairman Dr Mah Hang Soon, who visited the two on Saturday, said both victims had rib fractures.
“They are still being observed,” he said.
There were no further details on the elephant.

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