PETALING JAYA: Suitable habitats for elephants must be created now to help the largest land mammal survive.
Such habitats must incorporate reserves for elephants as well as passageways to enable them to traverse areas with man-made infrastructure safely, said Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman.
She said, for instance, special viaducts or overpasses should be built over highways to enable elephants to move from one part of the jungle to another without hindrance.
She pointed out that the natural habitat for elephants has been shrinking as more land is cleared for agriculture, particularly oil palm plantations.
Another major factor that has led to the destruction of elephant habitats is selective logging, she told theSun.
Meenakshi was responding to questions on how elephants can be protected in light of the poisoning of three elephants in Kluang, Johor.
She said that for elephant conservation efforts to work, the human-elephant conflict must be eradicated.
“For instance, oil palm plantations are often located adjacent to wildlife habitats. Hence, the only way for elephants to reach their natural habitat is through the plantations and human settlements,“ she said.
Meenakshi said, currently, there are four such viaducts specially-designed for elephants to connect from one area of the forest to another.
Three of them are in Terengganu. One is built across the Arang-Kuala Berang Highway, the second in Tembat Forest Reserve and the third in Taman Negara national park.
The fourth viaduct is to connect two major forests that are separated by the Kuala Lipis-Merapoh road. They are the Titiwangsa-Bintang-Nakawan Range and Taman Negara-Timur Range.
