KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 337 complaints on human-wildlife conflict in Gua Musang, Kelantan, were received by the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) last year.
Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said 218 of the complaints involved elephants and 47 tigers.
He said Perhilitan has taken several actions to address human-wildlife conflicts involving elephants and tigers in Gua Musang.
They include conducting patrols and monitoring wildlife habitats, installing 15 units of traps after receiving complaints of human-tiger conflicts, conducting 10 elephant capture-relocate operations and building elephant electric fence systems in Kampung Orang Asli Pos Pasik and Kampung Orang Asli Pos Aring 5 to prevent the pachyderm from entering residential areas and farms, he added.
Nik Nazmi said during the question and answer session in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (March 5) in response to Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (PH-Beruas).
Ngeh wanted to know actions taken by the government following incidents of villagers killed by elephants and tigers and crops damaged by elephants in Gua Musang recently, causing residents to live in fear.
Nik Nazmi said the ministry also encouraged animal breeders to build stronger livestock enclosures and manage livestock more systematically and responsibly to reduce wildlife conflicts.
The government, he said, disbursed RM978,000 to 246 applicants last year in Property and Crop Loss Assistance Due to Wildlife Attacks.
He emphasised the need for comprehensive action to resolve the issue of wildlife conflicts.
"The cause of the problem is because the wildlife habitats are often disturbed due to the exploration of forest areas,” he said, adding that the Ecological Fiscal Transfer (EFT) for Biodiversity Conservation was introduced by the federal government in 2019 to encourage state governments to strengthen management and increase protected areas.
He said that to date, RM800mil has been allocated to state governments to implement EFT, with RM60mil in 2019, RM70mil in 2021 and 2022, RM150mil in 2023, RM200mil in 2024 and RM250mil was allocated for this year.
The implementation of the EFT, he said, witnessed almost 15,000 hectares of new areas being gazetted as forest reserves and wildlife reserves in Peninsular Malaysia, involving Pahang, Perak, Kedah, Selangor, Penang, Perlis, Terengganu and Negeri Sembilan
"However, Kelantan is not included in the report even though Kelantan received the EFT allocation. As such, I hope that Kelantan can increase the protected areas to assist the government in resolving the problem of wildlife conflicts,” he added. - Bernama
