'Codet' Male Elephant Caught On Camera Crossing The Pekanbaru-Dumai Toll Road, BBKSDA: Goes To Giam Siak To Find Friends To Play With

Elephant while trying to cross the Pekanbaru Dumai Toll Road. (BETWEEN/screenshot)

RIAU - A male Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatrensis) crossed the Pekanbaru-Dumai toll road kilometer 73. The elephant's crossing was caught by surveillance cameras on Monday, February 14.

Head of the Technical Division of the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Center (BBKSDA) M Mahfud explained that the male elephant named Codet was part of the Elephant Pouch Conservation at Balai Raja. Codet passed from the direction of Giam Siak Kecil to the King's Hall.

"Codet is solitary, lives alone and has no friends. So he went to Giam Siak Kecil to find a playmate and a female to mate with," Mahfud explained in Pekanbaru, Antara, Wednesday, February 16.

Based on GPS collar monitoring, he often went back and forth from Balai Raja to Giam Siak Kecil and spent three months there.

Mahfud continued, the reason Codet did not pass through the underpass or tunnel was because the previous night it rained quite heavily and the road that is usually crossed was flooded with water.

"Because there is a small river flowing, so when it rains the tunnel is flooded and Codet can't get through," he said.

Therefore, the elephant is looking for the lowest point to be able to cross and break down the concrete fence on the toll road. "This itself is the first incident and the reason for not passing the underpass is due to natural factors," he said.

Based on GPS collar monitoring, now the elephant is four kilometers from the toll road point and is heading to the Balai Raja area.