BANDA ACEH: Eleven schools in six villages in Bener Meriah regency, Aceh, have shifted to remote learning after wild elephants repeatedly roamed the area over the past week, raising safety concerns for students and residents.
The temporary measure took effect on Thursday and will remain in place until conditions are considered safe for students and teachers to return to classrooms.
The acting head of Bener Meriah's Communications and Information Agency said the decision to suspend in-person classes was intended to protect students and teachers.
"Children's safety is our top priority. The local administration recognises the importance of education, but in an emergency like this, the safety of students and teachers must come first," he said on Thursday.
The local administration urged parents, schools and residents to remain vigilant and keep children away from areas frequented by wild elephants or potentially used as their crossing routes.
Bener Meriah Education Agency head Saidi said his office had received reports of elephants appearing near several schools.
"Two days ago, a school reported an elephant behind its premises. School officials said elephants sometimes enter the compound when the sky turns cloudy," Saidi told Kompas.com on Thursday.
He said the agency hoped to resume in-person classes on Monday, provided conditions were safe.
"We plan to resume normal classes on Monday if conditions are safe," he said.
An estimated 50 wild Sumatran elephants inhabit the area around Bener Meriah regency, with at least four spotted near villages in Pintu Rime Gayo district since last month.
The elephants have repeatedly ventured into villages and farmland, damaging at least six houses and destroying crops.
The incursions have severely disrupted residents' livelihoods, bringing farming activities to a near standstill as villagers fear further encounters with the animals.
Bener Meriah Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) declared a state of emergency over the human-elephant conflict from Oct 10 to Nov 12.
At least 15 residents have taken shelter at the Pintu Rime Gayo district office, either after their homes were damaged or out of fear of further elephant encounters.
Local resident Iwan Ridho said wild elephants had recently trampled parts of his pineapple plantation, although the damage was relatively minor.
He said encounters between wild elephants and residents had become increasingly frequent and concerning in recent weeks.
"We urge the authorities to take more decisive action. They should not wait until someone is killed or more homes and farmland are damaged before addressing the problem. Residents have worked alongside authorities to drive the elephants away, but the conflict continues," Ridho said.
He called for a long-term solution to the conflict, saying efforts should go beyond temporarily driving the elephants away and include measures to prevent further encounters.
"Residents should be able to resume their daily activities safely without constantly worrying about elephant movements," he said.
The Bener Meriah administration plans to establish a multi-agency task force to address the ongoing human-elephant conflict, involving the local Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), conservation group WWF, the military, police, disaster management officials and village authorities.
Bener Meriah BPBD chief Ilham Abdi said the situation required coordinated intervention by multiple agencies.
"With an estimated 50 elephants spread across seven villages, a coordinated response is essential to protect residents and prevent further encounters," Ilham said, as quoted by state radio broadcaster RRI.
Authorities are monitoring the elephants' movements and conducting controlled efforts to guide them away from residential areas without injuring or provoking the animals.
They are also taking steps to avoid separating young elephants from their herds.
Ilham also urged residents to avoid approaching, chasing or surrounding the elephants, warning that such actions could provoke aggressive behaviour and put people at risk.
Human-elephant encounters in Bener Meriah have resulted in multiple fatalities over the past decade.
The most recent fatal incident occurred in February, when a farmer was trampled to death by an elephant while trying to drive it away from his farmland.
Authorities have attributed the growing conflict to shrinking forest habitats caused by the expansion of plantations and residential areas, which have pushed elephants closer to human settlements.
They also said last year's devastating floods in Sumatra, which killed around 1,200 people, had significantly altered the landscape of elephant habitats and disrupted their traditional migration routes, increasing the risk of encounters with humans.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies Sumatran elephants as critically endangered on its Red List of Threatened Species.
Between 1,300 and 1,700 Sumatran elephants are estimated to remain in the wild across Sumatra, according to official statistics. Their population has declined by as much as 45 per cent over the past two decades. - Jakarta Post/ANN
