Wild elephants caught and tamed

BANDAR LAMPUNG, Lampung: A team of workers from the local conservation and natural resources agency is still hunting wild elephants to be tamed and trained.

Agency chief Harjanto Wahju Sukotjo said yesterday the team left for the jungle a week ago but was yet to report on how many elephants it had caught.

The team was dispatched after more frequent reports of wild elephants going on the rampage, destroying crops and encroaching on residential areas.

The team comprised 18 people and four trained elephants to help tame captured wild elephants, Antara reported.

The agency catches up to 40 wild elephants a year which are sent to a training center in Way Kambas.

The conversion of forests into plantations and human settlements is said to be the cause of wild animals running amuck.

Recently three people were eaten by tigers in Lampung. (pan)