Lawyers for Animal Rights said deforestation in the name of economic development had led to fragmented patches of habitats that could not support the survival of elephant herds.
It said this often drove the animals out of their habitat to search for food, which then led to conflicts between humans and elephants.
This, the group added, has led to some resorting to poisoning elephants to curb such conflicts which often lead to destruction of agricultural produce, assets and even loss of human lives.
“Elephants are a wildlife species fully protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010. It is about time the Johor government and wildlife and national parks department (Perhilitan) come out with effective and concrete conservation action plans to prevent more untoward deaths of precious elephants and wildlife.
“We call for an immediate moratorium on all deforestation activities in Johor specifically and Malaysia generally pending the outcome of the investigation,” it said in a statement.
Last week, several images and videos showing the four dead elephants at a plantation went viral on social media.
Johor Perhilitan was reported to have said it would perform a thorough necropsy on the animals to determine the cause of death, as it could not confirm if they died from poisoning or other causes.
Earlier today, natural resources and environmental sustainability minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad urged those with information on the deaths of the elephants last Saturday to contact Perhilitan.
He acknowledged that conflicts between elephants and humans were caused by the former’s loss of habitat due to land being used for farming or infrastructure development.
The minister also said Perhilitan had been working to manage these conflicts but it was incumbent on farmers to implement good agricultural practices in caring about the ecosystem surrounding their farmland.
He said the ministry’s efforts to boost the conservation of elephants included the gazettement of permanent forest reserves, the establishment of a national elephant conservation centre in Lanchang, Pahang, and the development of an elephant conservation action plan.