KUALA LUMPUR – Kluang, where four elephants were found dead in a fruit orchard two days ago, has been a hotspot for human-elephant conflict over the last four years.
The Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry (NRES) said that from 2020 to this year, there have been 646 reports of human-elephant conflicts, of which 45% were from Kluang in Johor.
NRES minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the one female and three male elephants found dead were from the Bandar Tenggara herd, which roams in the Lenggor, Kluang, Kluang Tambahan, Labir, Sembrong, and Endau Rompin Forest Reserves.
“These habitats are surrounded by agricultural areas, plantations, and human settlements.
“I wish to stress that the habitat and roaming areas of elephants are important to sustain their population because habitat loss due to land use changes for agriculture, plantations, settlements, urbanisation, and infrastructure development leads to human-elephant conflicts, resulting in agricultural crop destruction, property damage, injuries, and fatalities,” Nik Nazmi said in a statement.
He said that current data estimates Johor’s elephant population to be between 120 and 160 animals.
He urged plantation operators to implement good agricultural practices to care for the ecosystem around their farms and planted areas.
Nik Nazmi added that the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) is still investigating the four elephants’ deaths, and urged witnesses or those with information to contact the department at 1-800-88-5151.
Elephants in Malaysia are fully protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.
The deaths of the elephants at a fruit orchard in Kahang Timur, Kluang, were confirmed by Johor exco for health and environment Ling Tian Soon on June 1 after photos of the animals on the ground went viral.
Paloh assemblyman Lee Ting Han, meanwhile, was reported saying that the pachyderms were believed to have been poisoned.
He told The Star that even if the land was cultivated with crops, the act of killing the elephants was not justified, as farmers should report any human-elephant conflict to Perhilitan rather than take matters into their own hands.
This year, the NRES has allocated a one-off RM10 million fund to compensate planters and farmers for property and crop losses due to wildlife attacks.
The federal government, under the Ecological Fiscal Transfer for Biodiversity Conservation, has also allocated RM550 million since 2019 to provide financial incentives to state governments to preserve their forest and biodiversity areas. – June 3, 2024