(MY) on elephants straying onto roads

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Monday May 8, 2006 - The Star

 

Stray jumbos cause scare on highway

 

IPOH: Motorists on the Gerik-Jeli East-West Highway encountered a

jumbo problem on Saturday when two elephants strayed onto the road.

 

Oblivious to the traffic, the pair – one a calf – emerged from the

jungle at 3.30pm and took a stroll, keeping to the side of the road

but sometimes stepping out to the middle.

 

For several minutes, motorists just parked their cars and watched from

a distance.

 

No one dared to drive pass the elephants for fear of startling them

and causing them to go on a rampage.

 

" We waited for 20 minutes before the elephants walked back into the

jungle. It was a terrifying moment for us, " said road contractor Osman

Baba.

 

It was not the first time that elephants had strayed onto the road,

particularly along the 48th kilometre to 55th kilometre stretch of the

highway near Banding, some 160km from here.

 

Osman, 44, whose company does maintenance works on the Banding-Gerik

road, said he had witnessed two incidents of elephants damaging the

cars.

 

In one of the incidents on Thursday, an elephant had used its trunk to

smash the rear window of a car, he said.

 

The road is located next to the Belum forest, where the elephants'

habitat is found.

 

Osman said the elephants had also damaged several road signs put up by

the Public Works Department.

 

When contacted, state Wildlife and National Parks Department director

Shabrina Mohd Shariff said the department was aware of the presence of

elephants along the road.

 

" Necessary steps will be taken to ensure the safety of motorists, " she added.

 

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Tuesday May 9, 2006-The Star.

 

Expect more elephants to stray onto highway

 

IPOH: Expect more animals to stray onto the East-West Highway in Upper

Perak as they get " squeezed out " of the shrinking forests.

 

Malaysian Nature Society executive director Dr Loh Chi Leong said

logging activities in the Temenggor forests had also increased cases

of wildlife conflict.

 

" Large mammals such as elephants need a wide area to roam. Logging

forces them to use the highway to cross to the other side of the

forest more frequently, " he said yesterday.

 

Dr Loh was commenting on The Star's report of elephants appearing on

the East-West Highway on several occasions. The elephants came out of

the forest and took a walk on the road before returning to the jungle.

 

According to Dr Loh, mitigation methods were urgently needed to ensure

neither the elephants nor motorists posed any danger to each other.

 

" Instead of the current small signage saying Gajah Melintas (Elephant

Crossing), the signage should have instructions on what to do upon

seeing the wild animals, " he said.

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Elephant dies from gunshot wounds - New Straits Times

09 May 2006

 

GRIK: A female elephant, believed to be between 15 and 16 years old,

died of gunshot wounds in an oil palm plantation in Kampung Pulau

Ceri, Lenggong yesterday.

 

The pachyderm was first captured in the area by Perak Wildlife and

National Parks Department (Perhilitan) personnel on Sunday following

reports of her presence by plantation workers.

 

Shortly after her capture, they noticed she was very weak and on

closer inspection discovered two bullet wounds and pellet wounds in

her forehead.

 

" We believe she was shot some time ago as the wounds were old and

infected, " a spokesman said. The bullet wounds were about 60cm deep.

 

Perhilitan staff tried their best to help the injured animal, but her

condition worsened the following day and she died about 12.40pm.

 

" We had planned to have her transported to Belum forest once her

condition improved, " he said, adding that the seriously wounded animal

had refused to eat.

 

" She was doing fine in the morning but when she keeled over around

noon, we knew that nothing more could be done for her, " the spokesman

said.

 

Perhilitan staff, he said, tried to ease her last moments by pouring

water on her head to cool her down and pacify her. The animal was

buried in the evening where she died.

 

Department director Shabrina Mohd Shariff said the dead animal had a

baby and was separated from a pack of four or five adult elephants.

 

" We have been monitoring their movement from Sungai Siput to Lenggong

since April as we were planning to transport all of them to Belum. "

 

She said that the department believed the animal was shot by villagers

or poachers.

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Elephant may be from Jeli-New Straits Times

10 May 2006

 

KOTA BARU: The elephant that died of gunshot wounds in Lenggong,

Perak, on Monday may have been the one shot by villagers in Kampung

Pasir Dusun in Kelantan.

 

Villagers in the village had reported that they had shot at three

elephants rampaging in the area last month.

 

State Wildlife Department director Pazil Abdul Patah said there was a

chance the female elephant had crossed the Gunung Basor forest reserve

in Jeli, Kelantan, to the Temenggor forest reserve near Lenggong.

 

The elephant, believed to be between 15 and 16 years old, was captured

by Perak Wildlife and National Parks Department rangers on Sunday but

died the following day.