12 August 2025, Kuala Lumpur — The tragedy last Mother’s Day, 11 May 2025, where a baby elephant was killed by a lorry on the Gerik-Jeli Highway provoked a shared grief within the people of Malaysia. In response, WWF-Malaysia, together with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) and the Wildlife and National Parks Department (PERHILITAN), co-organised a Roundtable for Safer Roads for Humans and Wildlife.

This multi-stakeholder initiative seeks to address the alarming rate of wildlife-vehicle collisions, particularly along the Gerik-Jeli highway, through coordinated action and long-term behavioural change. The session brought together government agencies, industry leaders, and conservationists to drive solutions across key focus areas in a ground-breaking roundtable session resulting in several critical action points that demand multi-stakeholder collaboration.

One of the immediate measures identified during the session is industry outreach aimed at promoting safer driving behaviour along the Gerik-Jeli highway. Therefore, in conjunction with World Elephant Day 2025, WWF-Malaysia announced a Letter of Agreement (LOA) with The Selangor and Federal Territory Engineering and Motor Parts Traders Association (EMPTA) to collaborate on initiatives that promote road safety and reduce wildlife roadkill.
The partnership includes public awareness and engagement campaigns, event collaborations, technical and advocacy support, and will primarily target EMPTA’s 1,100 member companies to promote safer roads for both humans and wildlife along the Gerik-Jeli Highway.

The ceremony, witnessed by the Minister of Transport (MOT), Yang Berhormat Anthony Loke, took place at the Ministry of Transport office in Putrajaya. WWF-Malaysia CEO Sophia Lim stressed that this initiative marks only the beginning, calling for sustained commitment from all sectors to turn conflict into coexistence.

“This collaboration with EMPTA represents WWF-Malaysia's whole society approach towards safer roads for both humans and wildlife, marking the first milestone from the roundtable discussion. I extend my gratitude to all stakeholders for their continued dedication towards collective action. Together Possible, from conflict to coexistence”, said Sophia Lim, CEO of WWF-Malaysia.

At the roundtable which took place on 17 July 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, several short-term measures are considered, including the installation of eco-friendly signboards, stricter regulations with enhanced penalties, and designating areas such as Gerik-Jeli Highway as “Nature Zones”. Mid- and long-term solutions discussed include habitat enrichment, enhancing forest connectivity, and enhancing existing wildlife crossings to facilitate safe movement across roads.

Ultimately, however, it is drivers' behavior that plays the most critical role in ensuring road safety for both wildlife and humans therefore WWF-Malaysia calls on all Malaysians--from transport operators to weekend drivers--to slow down, stay alert, and respect the wildlife that cross our roads.

Let the tragic passing of the baby elephant not be in vain. This World Elephant Day, through loss we find purpose and garner commitment to greater road vigilance, ensuring safer roads for both human and wildlife.

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About WWF-Malaysia

Established in 1972, WWF-Malaysia is part of WWF, the international conservation organisation. Working to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and wildlife, WWF-Malaysia’s efforts to conserve nature focus on six major goals - forests, oceans, wildlife, food, climate and energy, as well as freshwater – and three key drivers of environmental problems – markets, finance and governance. Our mission is to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

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