IPOH, June 1 — The Perak Elephant Sanctuary (PES) to be built in Gerik will reduce the conflict between these mammals and humans in the state.

The Perak Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) director Yusof Shariff said only elephants that are problematic or cause conflict will be relocated to this sanctuary once completed.

"No, not all elephants will be relocated here (sanctuary) when it is ready, but we will only transfer problematic elephants,” he told Bernama when contacted today.

"Perhaps only the elephants that cause conflict (will be moved) because there are elephants that do not cause conflict; there are elephants that may be injured in collisions, or ones that are sick and so on, so we will move them there (sanctuary).”

Yesterday, the media reported Perak Science, Environment and Green Technology Committee chairman Teh Kok Lim as saying that the location of the elephant sanctuary had been identified.

According to him, the state government is in the process of transferring ownership of the land area to the federal government.

On July 18, 2020, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources announced the development of the Perak PES at the 11th Mile, Jalan Raya Timur Barat in Gerik. — Bernama