GUA MUSANG: About 30 villagers of Kampung Subong, here, claimed to have suffered losses amounting to RM50,000 when an elephant ran amuk and ravaged their banana plants last Thursday.

One of the villagers, Zakaria Omar, 53, said the elephant damaged 300 of his banana plants and also trampled to death two of his cows when the pachyderm ran amuk in a rubber plantation near the village between 10 pm and 3 am that day.

The beast had been seen roaming in the area since two weeks ago, he said when met at his banana plantation here today.

Following the incident, he said the villagers were now afraid to go near, including those who earned their living as rubber tappers.

Another villager, Mohd Nazri Hamzah, 52, said the elephant could seen wandering in the rubber and banana plantations almost everyday.

"The presence of the elephant is the first sighting since we started our banana and rubber plantations about 30 years ago," he added.

He said the incident had been reported to the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan).

It is our hope that the department will resolve the problem as soon as possible as most of us have to go to the rubber and banana plantations as they are our source of income, but we are afraid to go there because of the presence of the elephant, he added.

-- BERNAMA