KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) has captured a herd of seven elephants which has been wreaking havoc in the Telupid area – five of which have already been translocated.
Its director Augustine Tuuga said the seventh pachyderm, a female, was caught yesterday.
The six elephants caught earlier were captured between Feb 22 and March 5, and comprise three female adults, two male adults and a male calf.
"The last two caught, both female, are waiting for the Hitachi (company to make) translocation arrangements," he said when contacted.
While the earlier-captured elephants were released in the Imbak forest reserve, the last two are likely to be sent to the Deramakot forest reserve.
Asked about the cost of operations so far, Augustine replied: "We have not counted (the total), but the estimate is RM30,000 per translocation.
"But there is also a lot of (assistance) coming from individuals and private companies, including food for the elephants while waiting for translocation," he added.
On what suggestions the Department will make when they meet with Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun this week to discuss human-elephant conflicts, he declined to elaborate.
Previously, the NSTP reported that elephants have been trespassing through several villages in Telupid, with the most recent incident involving cases of pachyderms entering a secondary school and separately, a police station.