GUA MUSANG: About 200 Orang Asli families in Pos Belatim are living in fear following the presence of a wild elephant that has been roaming in their settlement area since last month.
An Orang Asli resident of the Temiar tribe in Kampung Kenben, Sumyal Alang, 32, said the latest incident happened at his house last Saturday when the wall in the kitchen collapsed and was damaged by the animal.
Previously, an elephant entered the area of Kampung Cacuh on Sept 11 at about 2am and after that incident the animal continued to damage cassava and banana plantations in several villages including Kampung Chemal, Kampung Kenben and Kampung Kajak with a distance of about two kilometers from each other.
"I think my kitchen collapsed because of the same elephant and maybe the animal was hungry because the supply of rice and groundnuts stored for use before the monsoon season was also scattered,” he said when met by reporters here Wednesday (Oct 9).
Commenting further, Sumyal said that at the time of the incident he was not at home because he wanted to collect durians in Kampung Cekrok before being informed by his friend about the incident at about 2am.
A resident of Kampung Cacuh, Rahimi Dolah, 45, said following the incident, about 50 residents had to take turns to stay awake all night because they were worried that the same incident would happen again.
"Usually these elephants will start looking for food in the evening until nightfall, so we agreed to gather and keep vigil in Kampung Cacuh and light a bonfire to drive the elephant away if it appears.
"There is indeed a sense of fear but we had to take this action because the elephant is getting bolder to approach the village area and has reported the incident to the Department of Wildlife Protection and National Parks (Perhilitan),” he said.
Meanwhile, Director of Perhilitan Kelantan Mohamad Hafid Rohani confirmed that he had received a report regarding the threat of wild animals at the area and was informed by the residents that normal vehicles could not enter Kampung Kenben due to the bad road conditions.
"Therefore, for now we advise residents to distance themselves or immediately take shelter if they come across the animal in question and not to provoke them,” he said. - Bernama
