He said to date, the government had appointed over 600 rangers who had adequate expertise, including in protecting forest reserves.

According to Takiyuddin, over 400 were from the Orang Asli community while the rest were military and police veterans who had been given training.

He said they were also given a special allowance which enabled them to have a take-home pay of over RM2,000 a month.

“The rangers are trained to protect wildlife habitats to reduce human-wildlife conflicts. Such conflicts could occur as the natural habitat of wildlife is used for development purposes,” he said.

When asked whether the government would recruit more rangers from among the Orang Asli, he said it was not easy to find those with expertise in the field.

“We need many more (rangers), we will appoint them. If we are to recruit rangers from among the Orang Asli, those with experience are almost gone.

“Nevertheless, we will train them if there are people who are keen to join the team,” he said.

Prior to this, the media reported that the Kemaman district in Terengganu recorded the highest number of disturbances by wild elephants in Peninsular Malaysia.

Other locations in the state which also recorded intrusions by wild elephants were Besut, Dungun, Hulu Terengganu and Setiu.

According to the report, the wildlife and national parks department had received 251 complaints from villagers and plantations from 2015 to 2021 involving losses totalling RM3.5 million.