Elephant Electrocuted After Crashing Into Cabin

A female elephant weighing about two tonnes was found dead after being electrocuted near Tasek Banding yesterday.

Perak Wildlife and National Parks Department acting director Wan Shaharuddin Wan Nordin said a team of officers rushed to the scene after being alerted to the incident at 7.30am.

"We cordoned off the area while Tenaga Nasional Berhad disconnected the electricity supply," he added.

The animal is believed to be about 40 years old and believed to have been electrocuted after pushing against the zinc wall of a contractor's cabin in the area.


Wan Shaharuddin said initial investigations showed the female elephant, which was more than 20 years old, had approached the cabin as it smelled food.

“It tried to push down the cabin door to get to the food. The impact of the push instead caused the electricity supplied to the cabin to land on it thus electrocuting it,” he said.

Wan Shaharuddin added that the female pachyderm was most probably the leader of the herd.

“Upon seeing the leader dead, the herd ran amok and destroyed the other cabins in the area,” he explained.

It was reported that the female pachyderm, which weighed roughly two tonnes, received a 240 volt shock from the electricity supplied to the cabin.

The cabin, located around 100 metres away from the Seri Banding army camp, was being used by contractors who were carrying out repair works on the site of a recent landslide.

Malaysian Nature Society past president Prof Maketab Mohamed when contacted said the tragedy would become the norm due to the conflict between man and nature.