Elephants attack Jambi villages

JAMBI, Jambi: A group of elephants from Bukit Tigapuluh National park attacked nearby villages in the last six months, destroying some 15,000 hectares of rubber and oil palm plantations in the area. No one was injured in the rampage.

"Around 30 elephants attacked the plantations because they can't find their food in the national park area," Warsi environment organization Bukit Tigapuluh program coordinator Dicky Kurniawan said on Thursday.

He said the villages used to be places where the elephants found their food but in the last five years, they were displaced by the opening up of illegal oil palm and rubber plantations.

"The food supply for them is no longer there so (they attacked) the villages to find food," Dicky said. -- JP