JELI, Dec 14 — Several villages in the Kuala Balah subdistrict suffered losses of tens of thousands of ringgit as it is believed that nearly 12 wild elephants invaded their crops on Monday.
Kampung Bukit Jering penghulu (village head) Hashim Yatib said the presence of the wild animals had not only affected the crops cultivated by more than 10 farmers in the village such as bananas, palm oil and rubber, but they were now afraid to go out to work for fear of their safety.
“These wild elephants just enter our village, no matter day or night.
“They (the farmers) are worried about being attacked by the wild animals, some residents even claim to have come across elephants and tigers in their farms,” he said when contacted by Bernama, here today.
A resident, Yusuff Abdullah, 69, said this year alone, his oil palm plantation had been attacked three times by the wild animals, resulting in a loss of almost RM10,000.
“I hope the Department of Wildlife Protection and National Parks (Perhilitan) can immediately move these elephants (to another location) and not just drive them back into the forest (nearby) as it doesn’t solve the problem,” he said.
The resident of Kampung Bukit Tok Ali said some of his newly planted seedlings were damaged by a group of wild elephants, and he did not have any capital to purchase new ones.
“I planted oil palm on almost one hectare of land and some of the seedlings were damaged. Right now, I have no more capital to repair the damage and buy seedlings,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kelantan Perhilitan director Mohamad Hafid Rohani, when contacted, confirmed receiving the report from the residents and that the department had driven the wild animals back into the nearby forest and would continue monitoring the area to ensure such incidents did not recur. — Bernama
