Elephants attack Aceh fruit plantations

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Aceh Besar

It has been almost a month since Sakdani had a good night's sleep; before he began staying up into the early hours of the morning to protect his banana plantation from rampaging elephants.

"If I fall asleep my entire banana plantation will be destroyed by the elephants," a weary Sakdani told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Sakdani said areas of the plantation had already been ruined by the elephants, and we would do everything in his power to protect the rest of his land.

Other residents are facing the same problem of how to protect their watermelon and papaya plantations from the elephants, whose habitat has shrunk drastically over the past several years.

The area around Sakdani's plantation is prone to elephant attacks, being situated on the edge of the animals' natural habitat. Sakdani recalls that when he was a child, he would see hundreds of elephants wandering through the forest near Teuladan subdistrict, Aceh Besar regency, some 35 kilometers south of Banda Aceh.

However, the number of elephants in the area has plunged in recent years and Sakdani estimates there are no more than dozens of elephants left in the area.

Despite their small numbers, the number of conflicts between elephants and residents has risen. This is probably because the elephants' habitat has been drastically reduced by illegal logging, leaving the animals to roam through the plantations near Teuladan subdistrict in search of food.

The animals not only take fruit from the plantations, but they also fell trees and electricity poles.

Sakdani worried that it was only a matter of time before the elephants began attacking the residential areas located about two kilometers from the plantations.

"When night falls the elephants come from all different directions and begin to steal fruit," said Sakdani.

The threat is real and if something is not done the farmers will suffer crippling losses, Sakdani said, pointing out that since the elephant attacks began in earnest a couple of years ago papaya and banana production in the area had dropped by about 40 percent.

A group of plantation owners have gotten together to protect their land, using anything at their disposal to stop the animals.

Residents have notified the local government several times about the problem, but has so far received no assistance.

According to a government estimate, the number of elephants in the area is about 400. The animals are on the brink of disappearing entirely from the area due to poaching and illegal logging, which has destroyed the elephants' natural habitat.