Johor health and environment committee chairman Ling Tian Soon (left) feeding a sugarcane to an elephant during his working visit at Johor Elephant Sanctuary in Kota Tinggi on Tuesday (Nov 12).
KOTA TINGGI: As part of its long-term measures to address human-elephant conflicts, Johor is planning to establish 21 food banks along elephant migratory routes in three districts.
State health and environment committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said there are currently four food banks for elephants located in Kota Tinggi.
"Two of the food banks are within the Johor Elephant Sanctuary (JES) here, while the other two are within private plantation areas.
Based on a study conducted jointly by the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) and a public university, the best way to address human-elephant conflicts is to create food banks for these large mammals," he said.
Ling, who is also the Yong Peng assemblyman, said this during his visit to JES on Tuesday (Nov 12).
He added that when there is sufficient food for the elephants in the forest, they have no reason to enter plantations or villages near forest areas.
Ling said that, as part of these long-term measures, which address ongoing human-elephant conflicts that have resulted in two deaths this year, the government is planning 21 food banks soon.
"These food banks will be located along identified elephant routes involving three districts: Kluang, Mersing, and Kota Tinggi. We have observed that wild elephants have been staying at JES for weeks, eating the food we've provided at the food bank here," he added.
Ling said the presence of elephants at the food bank within JES has helped reduce human-elephant conflicts in the district, and he is confident that similar results can be achieved in Mersing and Kluang.
He added that with this in mind, the state government intends to engage with plantation owners and companies soon through Perhilitan
"We hope that plantation owners will work closely with us by allocating about one hectare of their plantation areas to plant napier grass, banana trees, and sugarcane, all meant for the elephants' food bank," he said.
Ling also mentioned that the state government has allocated RM9mil to build electric fences along a 16km route around the Panti forest reserve to prevent elephants from entering nearby villages.
He added that other steps taken by Perhilitan to address human-elephant conflicts in Johor include installing satellite collars and translocating these large mammals.
Regarding JES, Ling said construction under phase one of the project was completed, and work is now underway for the second phase.
JES is being developed on a 73-hectare land area near Panti and is on track to open to the public in two years.
"The second phase involves constructing a pond and a pathway. JES will open to the public in 2026 and will serve as another attraction in Johor."
"Currently, there are four elephants in JES. The main purpose of having an elephant sanctuary here is to treat injured elephants before releasing them and to facilitate research on the animals," he said.
