Wild elephant spotted swimming at Terengganu National Park

A screenshot from the Perhilitan video showing the wild elephant swimming in Tanjung Mentong at the Terengganu National Park.

PETALING JAYA: In conjunction with World Elephant Day on Aug 12, the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) shared a fun fact about elephants being great swimmers despite their large bodies.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Aug 12), Perhilitan shared a video of a wild elephant swimming in Tanjung Mentong at the Terengganu National Park.

"Elephants are good swimmers and use their trunks to dive and breathe," it said.

A few Malaysians online who responded to the video said they were surprised by the revelation and some expressed hope that stricter laws will be enforced to better protect these wildlife from poachers.

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[GAJAH PERENANG HEBAT] Jabatan PERHILITAN Semenanjung Malaysia ingin kongsikan semula video gajah berenang di Tanjung Mentong, Taman Negara Terengganu sempena Hari Gajah Sedunia pada hari ini. Video gajah berenang ini dirakam semasa kakitangan PERHILITAN melakukan rondaan penguatkuasaan di Tanjung Mentong, Taman Negara Terengganu. Pada masa itu, terdapat seekor gajah jantan sedang berenang merentasi tasik. Kakitangan PERHILITAN telah mengiringi gajah tersebut sehingga sampai ke tebing bagi memastikan keselamatannya. Kebanyakan kita mungkin berfikir, gajah akan tenggelam sebaik sahaja mereka masuk ke dalam air kerana saiz tubuhnya yang besar dan berat. Namun, gajah sebenarnya perenang yang sangat hebat! Ketika di dalam air, gajah dapat berenang dan bahkan menggunakan belalai mereka untuk menyelam dan bernafas. A post shared by Jabatan PERHILITAN (@perhilitan_malaysia) on Aug 12, 2020 at 2:00am PDT