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  wildasia.net 7 Dec 06
150 elephants to be moved to Taman Negara
By R.S.N. Murali
Submitted by Scott O'Connell on 07 Dec 2006

A massive relocation exercise will soon be under way to move 100 to 150 elephants to Taman Negara to provide the animals with a more suitable habitat.

Game rangers from the state Wildlife and National Parks Department have been identifying the animals in recent tagging operations held in several districts in Terengganu.

Department director Rozidan Md Yasin said the relocation exercise had been initiated following several cases of elephants going on a rampage near villages, resulting in crops being destroyed. Areas where such incidents had occurred, he noted, were Setiu, Hulu Terengganu, Kemaman and Dungun.

"Their natural habitats in several areas have been disturbed by projects such as highway construction so relocation will be the appropriate solution," he said yesterday in an interview.

According to Rozidan, the department is in the process of classifying the natural habitats of wild elephants in the state to decide which animals needed to be relocated. He said the relocation exercise will start once this is completed.

The habitats are being categorised as at high, moderate or low risk of being affected by development. Animals in the high-risk areas will be relocated. He also said the animals would be placed in sections of Taman Negara near the Pahang and Kelantan border.

"Four to five elephants are expected to be relocated at any one time during the exercise," he said, adding that some of the department's elephant handlers had been undergoing intensive training in Thailand on how to capture and relocate the animals effectively.

Rozidan also urged villagers to provide information on any sighting of wild elephants or incidents involving them. The department, he added, was also looking into the possibility of introducing an audio system that produced high-pitched sounds to keep elephants away from smallholdings or human settlements.
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