16 elephants roam in villagers’ plantations in Lampung

Forest clearance in Lampung, Sumatra, has forced at least 16 elephants to leave their habitat and roam through residential areas and plantations in Pemerihan village, Bengkunat Belimbing district, West Lampung.

“The elephants scared the villagers and made them nervous,” Achmad Sutardi,Head of the National Park Management, Area II, of the South Bukit Barisan National Park Conservation Office, said on Thursday,antaranews.com reported.

The elephants were first seen roaming in the villagers’ plantations three days ago, he said.

He said that the national park had deployed four elephant trainers and six forest police officers to drive the elephants back to the forest.

Conflicts between elephants and people often happen due to loss of the forest ecosystem, he said, adding that a lack of human resources had resulted in poor supervision of the forest.

He hoped the central government would lend a hand in dealing with the problem.