TANAH MERAH – The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) successfully relocated a wild female elephant on Tuesday with the assistance of two trained elephants, Abot and Sanum, from the National Elephant Conservation Centre (PKGK) in Kuala Gandah.
The wild female elephant had reportedly been roaming near a residential area and trespassing into villagers’ rubber plantations in Kampung Bedah, Panglima Bayu, for almost a week.
Kelantan Perhilitan director Wan Mohd Adib Wan Mohd Yusoh said the department received a complaint about the presence of the wild elephant on Nov 4, before conducting inspections and investigations at the location on the same day.
He said the Kelantan Perhilitan Elephant Capture Unit (UTG), together with the Jeli District team, successfully captured the animal using a controlled sedation method on Nov 5.
“After being captured, the elephant was monitored to ensure its health remained stable before the relocation process was carried out.
“The relocation operation involved 27 personnel from Kelantan Perhilitan and PKGK Kuala Gandah,” he said when contacted on Thursday.
He said the process of moving the elephant from the capture site to a specialised transport vehicle involved dragging it over a distance of approximately 1.5 kilometres and was completed safely.
The wild elephant was also monitored by Perhilitan veterinary personnel and was reported to be in stable condition before being relocated to a more suitable natural habitat.
Wan Mohd Adib added that the public was advised not to approach or disturb wild elephants and to refrain from taking matters into their own hands if they encountered the animals.
“Any sighting of wildlife that could potentially lead to conflict should be reported to Perhilitan immediately to enable appropriate action to be taken,” he said.