Perhilitan Actively Tracking Elephant Herd After Attack On Homes, Crops

IPOH, Feb 4 (Bernama) -- The Perak Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) is actively conducting operations to track down a herd of wild elephants that reportedly damaged homes and crops in Kampung Orang Asli Talang, Pos Perwor, early yesterday.

Perak Perhilitan director Yusoff Sharif said seven officers from the Elephant Action Unit had been deployed to locate the herd of approximately seven to eight wild elephants after receiving complaints from residents at 7.30 pm on Sunday.

“Yesterday (Monday), we began tracking the herd at 8.30 am, but the elephants may have moved far from the initial location.

“So, we are still working to locate and capture them, but we first need to determine their exact whereabouts,” he said when contacted today.

He added that Perhilitan was aware of the complaints lodged by residents and denied allegations that no action had been taken.

“We received the complaint at about 7.30 pm on Sunday, and several procedures must be followed before carrying out an operation to track the elephants.

“Additionally, when the complaint was lodged, it was already dark, making it difficult to track them, and we had to make the necessary preparations first,” he said.

He also said that following the incident, villagers suffered losses as approximately 20 pineapple trees were destroyed, and some homes in the area were damaged.

Earlier, a 50-second video went viral, showing Orang Asli homes damaged by a herd of elephants, with claims that Perhilitan had failed to respond to the residents' complaints.

-- BERNAMA