LENGGONG: Eight wild elephants have been making lives of the villagers at Kampung Chepor a nightmare for the past two weeks.
The villagers, mostly rubber tappers, have not had a good night’s sleep as they live in fear of the next attack.
The wild elephants are said to have trampled on precious crops and the residents fear for their safety.
In the most recent incident, last night a herd of elephants made their way into the village and destroyed crops as well as trampled on dozens of banana trees.
Tarmizi Ghazali, the village’s headman said the herd came after dusk destroying the crops and making loud noises, which sent residents scurrying away.
He added that the residents were only able to watch from afar and did not dare chase the herd away.
He claimed that the elephants have destroyed almost half of the crops on a piece of 12-hectare land. The crops on the former paddy field are managed by the villagers under a land rehabilitation programme, which is an important side income for the villagers.
According to Tarmizi, various efforts have been done to scare the herd away. The residents have even resorted to building bonfires and setting off fire crackers, all of which have failed.
He said the 600 farmers in the village are very worried about the situation as the elephants, believed to have come from the Sungai Siput forest, would come every night for the past two weeks.
The Gerik Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) Peninsular Malaysia have sent four personnel to monitor the situation after the department was contacted.
Checks show that a four kilometre electric fence built seven years ago around the village was not fully functional as fallen trees have damaged parts of the barrier. Tarmizi said that so far, no repair works have been carried out.
The residents hope that the authorities will take appropriate action soon.