Sightings Of Elephant Herd Leaving For Higher Ground Prompts Fear Of Floods Among Locals
Elephants can't predict floods.
There have been sightings of herds of elephants in Terengganu and Kelantan leaving for higher ground, according to videos posted on social media
Netizens have been debating whether it's a sign of flood season or just another normal day after a video of an elephant herd walking up the hills at Tasik Kenyir, Terengganu, was posted on Facebook a few days ago.
The Facebook user who shared the video said that she saw 14 elephants crossing the highway and heading to the hills at 1.40pm last Sunday, 8 October.
The Facebook user's post has since gone viral with over 2,300 shares and hundreds of comments. Several Malay dailies also picked up the video to report the sighting.
Another similar scene happened in Kelantan, where several motorists stopped their vehicles along a highway as the gentle giants were seen slowly waddling their way along the tree bushes.
A TikTok user who posted the video from Kelantan joked that people didn't need to "waste money to go to the zoo to see the elephants".
The videos have since prompted locals to caution residents in the areas to be vigilant, saying that elephants leaving for higher ground may be a sign of flood season
Meanwhile, according to an Orang Asli, this could be an early warning for the terrible weather ahead of us
In an interview with 38-year-old Orang Asli villager, Pelinejon Assut, local paper Kosmo! reported that the sighting of animals such as elephants steadily moving for higher ground indicates that bad weather may fast be approaching.
"In addition to the habitat being disturbed or going out to find food, we do not rule out the possibility that the group of elephants seems to want to indicate that there will be a calamity or natural disaster after this," he said.
"Therefore, the Orang Asli community are taking the incident as a sign for us to prepare to face the monsoon season soon."
However, a popular Facebook page pointed out that elephants cannot really predict the weather
The Facebook page, MatGeo, which is associated with an independent geographer, showed an example of elephants in Africa and India affected by floods.
In the caption, the page sarcastically remarked that if people are to be believed, the elephants in Malaysia are "unique" compared to the ones in Africa and India.
At the end of the post, the page concluded that elephants can't predict floods.
Last month, the Selangor government said that it is looking into the possibility of declaring a climate emergency in the state to address the issue of climate change and flash floods:
Read our story detailing what the government needs to do to tackle the annual flooding in Malaysia:
Leave a comment