Herd of elephants seen foraging for food near Kluang village

 

A herd of about 50 elephants was reported to be foraging for food near villages in Kluang, Johor.

JOHOR BAHRU: A herd of elephants seen roaming around Kampung Sri Lukut and Kampung Pinggir, Kahang, near Kluang, in the past several days is believed to be foraging for food.

Johor wildlife director Salman Saaban said the herd of about 50 elephants was seen at nearby oil palm plantations.

Observations by drones revealed their movements were slow as there were many juvenile elephants while the high water level of Sungai Kahang following the recent floods made it hard for them to cross the river and move to a different location.

He advised residents to avoid going about at night or not to provoke the elephants but to immediately report to the department instead. “If not threatened, they aren’t dangerous because elephants only come foraging for food,” he said.

“The elephants are not lost, the area is actually within the Endau Rompin National Park roaming areas…only this time, they are taking longer to linger,” he said.

A video clip of the herd roaming near the two villages was widely shared recently.

Salman said elephants usually forage over an area of between 25 and 100 square kilometres. - FMT