JELI, Jan 17 — The Kelantan Department of Wildlife Protection and National Parks (Perhilitan) relocated a wild male elephant in Kampung Kalai, Batu Melintang, here yesterday.

Kelantan Perhilitan director Mohamad Hafid Rohani said the elephant was captured on January 11 after the department received a complaint that the giant mammal had encroached on villagers’ farms.

"Seven personnel from the Kelantan Elephant Capture Unit (UTG) carried out the operation to capture the elephant.

"This wild elephant will be relocated to a national park or a safe habitat,” he said in a media statement today.

Mohamad Hafid said that two elephants, acting as ‘denak’ (tamers), were brought in from the National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah, Lanchang, Pahang, to facilitate the relocation process of the wild elephant.

However, he said the relocation of the wild elephant was not a long-term solution to the human-elephant conflict due to the proximity of the villagers’ farms to the Gunung Basor Permanent Forest Reserve, which borders the Temenggor forest reserve in Perak. — Bernama