Kampung kuala jengai: A farmer in Kampung Kuala Jengai here suffered losses of about RM20,000 after a wild elephant damaged his coconut plantation in the early hours of last Monday (July 13).

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Mohd Marzuki Saat, 67, stated that the wild elephant is believed to have entered his plantation at around 2 am, destroying 34 four-year-old coconut trees that had begun bearing fruit this year. This marks the first incident of its kind that Marzuki has faced since he began cultivating coconuts in 2022. The elephant managed to knock down part of the electric fence installed around the plantation before causing damage to the crops.

Marzuki has cultivated a total of 450 coconut trees of various varieties on the 2.4-hectare plantation, including Malayan Yellow Dwarf (MYD), Malayan Red Dwarf (MRD), Sungai Gulang-Gulang (SGG), and Pandan coconuts.

Kuala Jengai Village Development and Security Committee (JPKK) chairman Che Ku Rahimi Che Ku Mat Salleh reported the incident to the Terengganu Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) for immediate action. Meanwhile, Terengganu Perhilitan director Dennis Ten Choon Yung confirmed that the department received reports on July 13, indicating that the wild elephant likely strayed from the Besol Forest Reserve, approximately 500 meters from the village.

Perhilitan officers are currently monitoring the area to track the elephant, guide it back into the forest, and prevent future occurrences.