JOHOR BARU: Johor Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) has captured two wild elephants in Sedenak belonging to a herd that had been spotted wandering near railway routes and the North-South Expressway.
State health and environment committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said the two male elephants were captured during an operation by Perhilitan that began on Saturday (Aug 9).
“The elephants were part of a breakaway group from the Tenggara herd, which had been seen entering several areas, including Kampung Air Manis, Sedenak, Simpang Renggam and the Pontian border.
“The group had also been involved in previous conflicts near the Mengkibol railway track and the North-South Expressway over the past few weeks,” he said here on Monday (Aug 11).
The Yong Peng assemblyman said that the first elephant, with a 12-inch front footprint, was secured at 10.30am on Sunday (Aug 10) while the second, with a 13-inch footprint, was caught five minutes later.
He said both captures took place in Kampung Sawah.
Ling added that the captures were made primarily for the safety of road and rail users in conflict-prone areas.
“Perhilitan will continue to monitor the elephants until they are relocated to a more suitable habitat.
“The operation involved monitoring multiple areas including Kampung Air Manis, Kampung Sawah, Kampung Desa Idaman, Kampung Bukit Batu, Kampung Sri Sempurna, Kampung Bukit Nyamuk, Kampung Pinggir, Ladang Air Manis and surrounding locations,” he said.
Ling also urged the public to report any wild elephant sightings to Perhilitan immediately to prevent untoward incidents.
