Enviro News Asia, Lampung — The Way Kambas National Park Authority, in coordination with partner organizations and local communities, carried out mitigation efforts to address a wild elephant conflict in Braja Asri Village, a buffer zone of Way Kambas National Park, on Tuesday–Wednesday, 30–31 December 2025.
The incident began on the night of 30 December 2025, when the park’s elephant conflict mitigation team, together with conservation partner KHS ERU and local residents, conducted patrols at several high-risk points based on GPS collar monitoring carried out every four hours. Extreme weather conditions, including heavy rainfall, hampered field mobility, allowing several wild elephants to leave the park area and become trapped in community rubber plantations in Braja Asri Village until the following morning.
On Wednesday morning (31/12) at around 6:30 a.m. local time, an additional elephant blockade team from the Way Kambas National Park Authority was deployed after receiving a report from the village military officer (Babinsa) regarding the presence of wild elephants near Putul Bridge. The team arrived at the site at approximately 7:15 a.m. and immediately coordinated with sub-district authorities, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), the National Police (Polri), village officials, the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), the Municipal Police (Satpol PP), park partners, and local residents.
Following a joint deliberation, all parties agreed to guide the elephants from the community rubber plantations back into the forest area of Way Kambas National Park. However, during the herding process, a miscommunication among blockade teams in the field caused the elephants to change direction and display aggressive behavior.
At around 11:10 a.m., the situation resulted in a fatal incident involving the Head of Braja Asri Village, the late Mr. Darusman. The response team immediately evacuated the victim and transported him to a health facility. Security measures and elephant herding operations continued, and by 12:00 p.m., the wild elephants were successfully guided back into the Way Kambas National Park area through the Merang sector of Braja Asri Village.
On behalf of the Ministry of Forestry and the Directorate General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation (KSDAE), the Way Kambas National Park Authority expressed its deepest condolences over the passing of Mr. Darusman. He was widely recognized as an active village leader who demonstrated strong commitment to supporting efforts to mitigate human–wildlife conflict in the area.
The Way Kambas National Park Authority reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening cross-sector coordination, enhancing safety procedures, and improving field communication mechanisms, particularly under extreme weather conditions, to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Efforts to mitigate human–elephant conflict remain a shared responsibility, requiring strong synergy among government agencies, security forces, conservation partners, and local communities to ensure human safety and the long-term conservation of the Sumatran elephant. (*)
