Up close with wild elephants at Endau-Rompin, Malaysia

Austin Camoens, The Star 19 May 10;

ENDAU: Visitors to the Endau-Rompin (Peta) National Park can observe elephants in the wild through observation towers set up throughout the park.

Johor National Parks Corporation (PTNJ) director Abu Bakar Mohamed Salleh said 10 towers had been built near the Orang Asli fruit groves in the park.

“These towers were erected two months ago to prevent large animals from destroying the fruit groves,” he said.

Abu Bakar said that the towers could also draw tourists, especially those who were keen on seeing elephants in the wild.

“We have studied various samples of elephant dung and estimate that we have more than 120 elephants in the park.”

He added that most of the towers were located near bamboo plants - the elephants preferred food.

Abu Bakar said that besides elephants, the park had 50 species of mammals, 230 types of birds, 43 different fish, 26 frog species, 179 varieties of butterflies, and 14 species of snakes.

“We also have three male and eight female tigers,” he said, adding that studies showed a male tiger needs about 30,000 hectares of forest territory while females need about 10,000 hectares.

The Endau-Rompin National Park (comprising the Peta and Selai parks) is spread over 80,000 hectares.