During the recent Hari Raya jam, an elephant was caught on camera hanging out on the road and “inspecting” the scene. The video was captured at the East-West Highway connecting Gerik to Jeli, and the video has been verified by the department of wildlife and national parks (Perhilitan).
In the video, the elephant was at the side of the road when a Mazda CX-5 approaches it. The SUV brakes but continues on the the curve. The giant mammal looks at the Mazda and moves towards it, but the SUV managed to pass unscathed. The elephant was still in the middle of the road when the next car – a Proton Wira – approaches the bend. This car then did what we’re not supposed to do, honk.
No human or animal was harmed, and the elephant eventually went back into the jungle after a few minutes. It’s not something we see everyday, but Perhilitan director Yusoff Shariff said that such incidents are common on the East-West Highway, and that the elephants in the area are generally used to the presence of humans and vehicles.
However, Yusoff hoped that motorists do not provoke or get too close to elephants on the road. What one needs to do in such an encounter is slow down or stop, maintain a safe distance and let the elephant head back into the woods. He added that Perhilitan had expected human-elephant encounters, and had set up warning signs on the route.
I encountered a few times with elephant along Gerik-Jeli Highway in the last few years. Most of times during sunset until around 10pm. Maybe elephants want to go home ‘waktu maghrib’. Hehe
mazda, what to expect. if something bad happened, who will be blamed?
Animals are there first long before humans. They have been crossing that part of the jungle long before humans built that road. If there are any party to blame, it should be humans who took over their territory. Animals passing thru are just following their instinct embedded in their DNA since eons ago. They are the first bumiputeras in this land, and like all other bumiputera rules they come first. So jangan persoal.
hey bro. can you please clarify. did the wooly mammoth come first or did the neanderthal human come first? if you do not know, how do you argue human or elephant came first?
If you can find Neanderthal remains in that jungle, do let us know to revise history according to your bend. Thank you.
If damaged by an elephant, should it be claimed under riot? Or act of god, so not claimable?
Malaysian internet logic says if you langgar gajah, gajah parents must go to jail.
gajah also know how not to get hit, unlike basikal lajak rempitboiz
‘Frogs’ ‘inspects’ Raya jam at East-West Highway, approaches SUV – just lenyek those ‘frogs’
When I was little, we wld encounter elephants enroute to Terengganu often. It was super exciting for me, as my Dad wld wake me to see them if I was asleep. Drivers didn’t hv any issues then, everyone stopped n waited for the elephants to pass without fuss, if u r lucky, there’d be 1 or 2 curious elephant trunks hovering on ur windows/windshields….well that’s abt it..both men and elephants respected each other’s spaces..
When I was little, we wld encounter elephants enroute to Terengganu often. It was super exciting for me, as my Dad wld wake me to see them if I was asleep. Drivers didn’t hv any issues then, everyone stopped n waited for the elephants to pass without fuss, if u r lucky, there’d be 1 or 2 curious elephant trunks hovering on ur windows/windshields….well that’s abt it..both men and elephants respected each other’s spaces..