Rogue elephant caught
2012-02-19 13:18
Kuala Lumpur - Officers captured a male elephant believed to be the leader of a herd that wreaked havoc on farmlands in a northern Malaysian state, the wildlife department said on Sunday.
The elephant, weighing at least 4 000kg, was captured on Thursday in a village of Kelantan state, about 335km north of Kuala Lumpur.
It was believed to have led a herd of nine elephants that strayed from a nearby forest reserve and destroyed farm crops during recent months.
Wildlife officers were seeking to capture the remaining elephants and return them to the jungle.
Eleaid, a British charity group working for the conservation and welfare of Asian elephants, estimated that there are nearly 1 500 wild elephants in the forests of mainland Malaysia.
- SAPA
