On Saturday (9 July), a large herd of over 100 elephants “visited” the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) in Kinabatangan, Sabah and caused some damage to the buildings there.
However, the incident was being shrugged off as a normal consequence of the pachyderms at play.
Taking it to Facebook, DGFC shared a couple of pictures of the “carnage” left by the herd after the animals left its grounds.
The pictures showed a damaged concrete stairway and several water tanks that appeared to have been tossed around.
Meanwhile, netizens had mixed feelings about this incident, with some making jokes that the animals were a relatively well-behaved bunch despite being a hundred strong.
“So obvious they don’t like the design of the place at all especially the brick staircase,” a netizen commented.
Another netizen poked fun at the fact that DGFC recently renovated their premises, saying “Wow!! Don’t they know you just renovated?”
Nonetheless, DGFC explained that the herd of elephants was just passing by their premise and described their behaviour as playful.
“We are not fighting them and they did not fight, they just played because this is what they are, playful,” they wrote in response to a netizen’s comment, adding that they will just repair and move on.
Meanwhile, DGFC director Benoit Goossens said that the forest is their territory and they do not have a problem with it.
“Anyway, it’s their forest, we have to live with it. Still, we love having them around despite the damages,” he said.
The DGFC is a collaborative research and training facility owned by the Sabah Wildlife Department and co-managed with Cardiff University. The centre opened on 19 July 2008, welcoming its first field course from Cardiff University in Wales.
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