Johor health and environment committee chairman Ling Tian Soon (far left) joined in the operations to translocate two wild elephants at Jalan Kluang, Renggam on Tuesday (Feb 20).
KLUANG: Two male elephants here have been translocated to Taman Negara by the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan), says Ling Tian Soon.
The Johor health and environment committee chairman said the department staked out at the location for about two weeks before successfully capturing the two adult elephants at Jalan Kluang - Renggam on Tuesday (Feb 20).
“The wild animals had damaged a farm and tile factory nearby as the area is an elephant migration route,” he said in a statement after participating in the Perhilitan operations.
He added that a third wild elephant suddenly appeared during the translocation process.
“The animal showed signs of aggression seemingly wanting to protect their ‘friends’ so we had no choice but to leave the area,” he said.
He added that he wanted a hands-on experience to see the translocating process since taking over the environment portfolio following a recent state executive council reshuffle.
From 2020 until 2023, Johor Perhilitan has received more than 1,500 complaints from animals annually, where 65% of them were related to wild monkeys, followed by wild boars (11%) and elephants (10%), said Ling, who is also the MCA youth chief.
“According to Johor Perhilitan, there are about 120 to 150 elephants statewide, mostly in Kota Tinggi, Kluang, Segamat and Mersing.
“The department has also built an elephant sanctuary in Kota Tinggi with hopes of translocating elephants there soon,” he added.
He said that Perhilitan has about 110 staff members of various levels taking care of administration, enforcement, protection, and capturing wild animals.
“They also have a special team to handle elephant complaints, and they are well-trained to chase away and capture the mammals,” added Ling.
