KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia– Wild elephants damaged a vehicle near KM11 of the Gerik-Jeli highway in Malaysia on May 20, after reportedly being startled by honking.
The incident involved a Toyota Vios traveling toward Gerik, a town in Perak state. According to authorities, the elephants’ reaction may have been triggered by a vehicle behind the Toyota that sounded its horn.
The driver of the Toyota Vios exited the vehicle before the elephants approached and was unharmed. The car sustained significant damage during the encounter.
Earlier in May, a separate incident on the same road resulted in the death of an elephant calf after a collision with a lorry.
Malaysian authorities have documented over 66,000 human-elephant conflict cases between 2020 and 2024. Officials continue to monitor the situation and are assessing measures to reduce such incidents along the Gerik-Jeli highway and surrounding areas.