KOTA TINGGI: Farmers in Sedili Kecil's food production zone here are facing financial losses after wild elephants invaded their coconut plantations, uprooting and destroying trees expected to yield crops next year.
Farmer Ramlai Ranyan, 63, said wild elephants had plagued his plantation for the past two weeks, causing damages estimated at over RM250,000.
A herd of wild elephants also destroyed up to 2,000 of his coconut trees, which only started producing harvests last year.
"Every day, dozens of trees are damaged or uprooted. The elephants usually wander into the plantations from 6pm onwards and forage until dawn," Ramlai said here today.
In the past, the elephants had merely roamed the area without damaging crops, but this recent shift in behaviour had put the farmers' livelihoods at risk.
He lodged a report with the Wildlife and National Parks Department, hoping for immediate intervention.
Nazarudin Jamil, 25, another affected farmer, shared a similar plight. About 300 of his coconut trees, expected to bear fruit next year, were destroyed.
"Seeing my farm in this state, trees uprooted and damaged, it's discouraging and painful. We invested so much effort and money in fertilisers and upkeep, only to lose it all," he said.
The elephant incursions, which began on Oct 18, had also damaged his banana and pineapple crops.
Nazarudin appealed for government-aid as small-scale farmers like him were severely impacted.
Pengerang Farmers' Organisation general manager Mohamad Azhar Din confirmed that his office had alerted the Wildlife and National Parks Department on the elephants' intrusion.
"There is an urgent need for immediate action to prevent further losses to the farmers under the organisation," he said.