JAMBI: An elephant has rampaged around oil palm plantations in Pintas Tuo village, Muara Tabir district, Tebo regency, Jambi, over the last several days, destroying hundreds of hectares of the plantations owned by residents.

'€œThe elephant has also damaged plantations in neighboring Embacang Gedang village,'€ said Pintas Tuo elder Jamhuri on Friday.

He said residents did not know how to drive away the elephant and feared it would destroy their homes.

Muaratabir district chief Heru Purnomo concurred, saying his office required help from the Jambi Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) to expel the elephant.

He expressed hope that the Jambi BKSDA team would drive away the elephant and return it to its habitat in the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, so residents could safely tend to their plantations again.