Malaysia: Two elephant calves caught

Sharifah Mahsinah Abdullah New Straits Times 8 May 12;

TWO elephant calves, believed to be pining for their mother, were captured by state wildlife rangers at a jungle near Felcra Bukit Raja over the weekend.

MACHANG: State wildlife director Rahmat Topani said the baby elephants, aged 5 and 3 years and weighing 700kg and 500kg respectively, were in a rubber smallholding after a 30-year-old female elephant, weighing about 2.5 tonnes, was caught by the rangers at 11.45am on Saturday.

"It seemed that the calves were yearning for their mother that they kept searching for the adult elephant after it was caught."

He said rangers were sent to the Felcra settlement after residents complained that a herd of elephants had damaged their crops.

He said the first calf, a male, was caught at 10am on Sunday and the youngest, a female, was captured about six hours later in the same area.

"A large crowd of villagers gathered near the jungle to see our operation to catch the jumbos," he said.

Rahmat said the three elephants were believed to be in a herd of eight that had been destroying crops belonging to residents since last year.

He said the elephant family would either be sent to the National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah, Pahang, or released into the wild in the National Park tomorrow.