Housewife Screams In Fear As Herd Of Elephants Appears Behind Her House
GERIK – Facing a herd of wild elephants behind her house became a nerve-wracking moment for a housewife in an incident last week in Kampung Bongor here.
Siti Rasidah Abd Lateh, 43, who recounted the terrifying moments, said that at the time of the incident, several wild elephants were near her house.
According to her, the night before, her family was startled by the presence of a group of elephants that had damaged crops in a nearby farm.
“I saw a herd of elephants moving from behind the house. At that moment, I was excited to take a picture, but when I saw them moving closer to our house, I immediately screamed in fear until my voice almost gave out.
“My body was trembling uncontrollably. All this while, I had only seen them on television, never with my own eyes like this. We were worried about our family’s safety because the elephants came in a large group and we were afraid they would damage the house,” she told reporters when met during the Wild Elephant Relocation Operation in Kampung Bongor here on Wednesday.
She said the incident was her first experience seeing a large herd of elephants up close.
According to her, prior to that, they had heard cries from the area near the forest that continued until late at night before realising the presence of the animals.
Besides the elephant threat, villagers are also facing disturbances from tigers that have been reported to have preyed on livestock in the area.
However, the villagers breathed a sigh of relief when the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) carried out an elephant relocation operation in the village.
Perak Perhilitan Director, Mohd Taufik Abdul Rahman, said this operation involved the capture of 12 wild elephants in Kampung Bongor and two more in Tanjung Rimbun, Kampung Bandariang here.
He said the elephants, aged between one and a half years to 35 years old, would be relocated to their original habitat far from human settlements.
“In Kampung Bongor, there have indeed been complaints related to elephants throughout the year, but early this month, the herd of wild elephants was detected approaching as close as 50 metres from the residential area.
“This situation has caused fear among the residents, besides resulting in crop destruction,” he said.
Meanwhile, Perak Executive Councillor for Women’s Development, Family, Community Welfare, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives, Datuk Salbiah Mohamed, said human-elephant conflict is not new in Hulu Perak, as most villages are located near forest reserves that serve as the natural habitat of the animals.
According to her, the proposal to establish an elephant sanctuary in Gerik, which is currently being given attention by the government, is also very important to facilitate future elephant management and relocation operations.
Sinar Harian