TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Villagers flee as elephants run amok
Dozens of residents of Pauhranap village, Peranap district, Indragiri Hulu regency, Riau, have left their village for the last three days to avoid rampaging wild elephants
Change Size
D
ozens of residents of Pauhranap village, Peranap district, Indragiri Hulu regency, Riau, have left their village for the last three days to avoid rampaging wild elephants.
Peranap district head Hariyadi said Wednesday some 50 people had fled to a neighboring village after their village was ransacked by elephants.
The villagers had tried to stay put and rebuild their houses damaged or destroyed by the elephants, while attempting to scare off the protected animals with loud noises and campfires, he added.
However, their efforts proved ineffective as the number of elephants storming the village continued to increase throughout the day.
“They can no longer stand facing prolonged terror by the elephants. They have always been frightened and their safety is increasingly under threat,” Hariyadi told The Jakarta Post.
“Some villagers are seeking shelter at their families’ homes, while others have opted to establish huts at [neighboring] Lubuk Kandis village, which they believe is safe from elephant attack,” he added.
According to the district chief, the conflict between human and elephant at Pauhranap village has been going on for a long time, claiming several lives.
Last September, 27-year-old plantation guard Rinto Lumbangaol was trampled to death by elephants.
“Local residents are worried that such a tragic incident might happen again,” Hariyadi said.
A herd of around 80 wild elephants have stormed the local village several times since late
December following the flooding of their habitat.
“According to reports from residents, two of the elephants are much bigger than the others. They resist eviction efforts and even turn around and charge residents,” Hariyadi said.
The elephants have demolished scores of houses and damaged some 3,000 hectares of palm and rubber plantations.
They usually eat and crush the plantations during the night and return to the jungle at dawn.
“The villagers, who rely on their palm oil and rubber harvests are in limbo,” Hariyadi said.
The Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) admitted it was unable to stop the conflict
in Pauhranap village due to a lack of funds.
“Of course we need money to deal with it. We are working hard to find a solution. BKSDA has sent a team to see the condition in the field,” agency head at the Rengat office Edi Susanto said.
He said Pauhranap village is a transit area for elephant herds living in their habitat in Serangge.
According to Edi, elephants often approached the nearby residential areas as most of their transit areas had been turned into palm oil plantations and industrial forest areas. “It’s impossible to keep elephants from residential areas. If evicted, they will certainly return because those plantations are their natural transit areas.”
Spokesman for Riau’s WWF Indonesia Syamsidar said Serangge is one of nine elephant pockets left in Riau. She attributed the conflict to the loss of forested habitats across the province.
