KUALA KRAI: On May 26, a herd of 20 wild elephants reportedly wreaked havoc at Kampung Tok Uban and Kampung Catan in Lata Rek here, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

       The 147 families from the two villages are still living in fear as sightings of the wild elephants are still being reported.

       Checks by Bernama at Kampung Tok Uban found that crops had been destroyed, fences were damaged as well as footprints and faeces left by the mammals.

       ALSO READ: Perhilitan drives off encroaching wild elephants in Lata Rek, Kelantan

       According to Mohd Ridzuman Hanapi, 37, a villager at Kampung Tok Uban, their oil palm, coconut and banana crops were destroyed and eaten by the wandering wild animals.

       "On Wednesday (June 1), we saw three elephants encroaching our village three times between 7pm and 11pm.

       "We chased the elephants so that they would not attack people and destroy the surrounding crops,” he told Bernama here Thursday (June 2).

       Mohd Ridzuman said since the wild elephants wandered into their village last Thursday, the villagers had set up a neighbourhood watch especially at night to protect the villagers and their crops from being destroyed by the wild animals.

       "Between 10 and 15 volunteers will patrol the village from 10pm until 3am every night for the safety of all villagers,” he said, adding that wild elephants have been detected encroaching the village since 2018.

       Meanwhile, rubber tapper Mastura Mohd Shamsuddin, 35, said she had to delay the time for her to start working on her plantation from 7am before the incident to 8am for fear of coming into contact with the wild elephants.

       She said she had seen several elephants loitering close to her rubber plantation recently, adding that the distance between her house and the plantation was 4km.

       Meanwhile, Mohd Rosmizi Rosli, 34, said he hoped that the relevant agencies could station their personnel in the village to monitor the surrounding areas and take further action.

       "We have no expertise in wildlife, forestry, and the like, so we hope that the experts can join us in maintaining the peace and safety of the villagers,” he added.

       It was reported that the Kelantan Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director Mohamad Hafid Rohani said they had mounted an operation to control and drive off the wild elephants detected in the village.

       He said several factors caused these elephants to loiter around village areas such as the reduction of their natural habitat and the ease of locating food in village areas as residents have cultivated sugar cane, cucumbers and bananas, as well as overgrown orchards, among others.

       "Perhilitan has advised residents to light bonfires (to ward off these elephants) surrounding their respective dwellings and along the elephant path to their villages and plantations,” he added. - Bernama