KLUANG: The Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) in Johor has captured and relocated a male elephant which was part of a herd that caused uneasiness among residents in Taman Sri Lambak here.
Its director Aminuddin Jamin said that the adult elephant was captured on Tuesday (May 9) following complaints coming from residents.
He added that the elephant had been separated from its herd before it was found by the department.
“We have successfully captured the elephant, which is part of a herd that went viral on social media for encroaching people’s homes by damaging the gates.
“The elephant has since been relocated deeper into the jungle within a national park area and the mammal is far away from any human area,” he said when contacted here on Thursday (May 11).
Meanwhile, Kahang assemblyman R. Vidyananthan thanked Perhilitan for capturing the rogue elephant, which was caught near Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) here.
“Perhilitan has sent two elephants, which act as “denak” (tamers), which helped to capture this elephant,” he added.
“This is good news for the residents here,” he added.
Earlier this month, the presence of several elephants in a residential area in Taman Sri Lambak here caused uneasiness among 500 residents who feared for their safety.
Resident N. Muniammah, 62, claimed it had been almost a year since she had to deal with the wild elephants that often encroached into her house compound and damaged the gates and window panes.
Another resident, Saedin Sadoon, 49, said the wandering animals also caused danger on the roads, claiming that his son was injured when he crashed his motorcycle into an elephant in the dark.
Video clips of the intrusion of elephants in the residential area had gone viral.