Orang Asli boy trampled to death in Pahang elephant attack

A boy died after being trampled by an elephant at Pos Sinderut in Kuala Lipis, Pahang yesterday.

Andy Yok Manin, 15, was attacked in a durian plantation 30 metres from his home in Kampung Tual, Kuala Lipis district police chief Azli Mohd Noor said in a statement.

He added the villagers took the body home after the attack and police were informed of the incident at about 4.30pm yesterday.

Cameron Highlands MP Ramli Mohd Nor said the boy was attacked at about 10am yesterday.

He added this is the second indigenous villager's death involving conflict with wild elephants there in the past weeks.

"Several weeks ago an Orang Asli woman in Pos Betau died after encountering a wild elephant herd.

"How many more Orang Asli lives have to be lost in the Cameron Highlands parliamentary constituency and the Jelai state constituency before Perhilitan takes action?" Ramli asked.

He was referring to the Peninsular Malaysia Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan).

Pos Betau and Pos Sinderut are located some 65km from each other by road and are separated by a dense forest.

However, satellite images show wide-scale forest clearing near Pos Betau and patches of clearing around Pos Sinderut.

Ramli said he had previously proposed that this herd of wild elephants, which have of late come into conflict with the villagers there, be translocated to other forest reserves like in Kenyir.

However, he said, his call was met with silence.

If no action is taken to translocate the animals, he added, the community may be forced to harm them, in order to protect themselves.

"Don't let it come to a point where action is taken against the villagers for defending their lives. Which is more important, an elephant or a human life?" he asked.

Meanwhile, Azli said the elephant is believed to be the same one that attacked Kampung Regang near there recently and was driven away by the villagers.

The boy's body has been sent to Hospital Lipis for a post-mortem examination, he added.

The Asian Elephant is an endangered species, with Perhilitan estimating less than 1,700 are in the wild in Malaysia.

Among threats to their existence is the loss of habitat, which also leads to human-elephant conflicts.

Between 2015 and 2021, Perhilitan recorded 3,325 complaints of human-elephant conflict.

From January to June last year, some 435 similar complaints were reported.

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