Wild elephants kill two in Sumatra

Sep 28, 2009, 3:52 GMT

   Jakarta - At least two people were killed and hectares of oil palm plantations destroyed when a herd of wild elephants went on a rampage through a resettlement area in eastern Sumatra over the weekend, a media report said Monday.

   The incident took place on Saturday when villagers of Tebo district in Riau province and residents of Indragiri Hulu district of the adjacent province of Jambi were trying to drive a herd of up to 80 elephants off their farms using traditional methods such as torches, beating drums and sharp weapons.

   Rather than leaving the plantation area, the wild elephants became enraged, trampling to death two villagers. In addition, the beasts also destroyed several hectares of oil palm plantation and dozens of huts, the Kompas daily reported.

   According to Didy Wurjanto, the head of Jambi province's Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA), conflict between the pachyderms and the locals has been on the rise in recent years because the plantations have been established on a trail used by the wild elephants.

   Wuryanto blamed an increased number of new oil palm plantations in the area and said it would be difficult to guarantee the wild elephants would not reenter the residential areas because the animals are forced to feed on the crops that replace their natural foods.

   Environmentalists and conservation officials have said human-animal conflicts are a growing problem as human settlements encroach on natural habitats in Indonesia, an archipelago nation with some of the world's largest remaining tropical forests.

   The global conservation group WWF estimates there are only about 3,000 wild elephants roaming Sumatra, the only island in Indonesia where they can still be found in the wild. They are listed as an endangered species and protected by law.