In the early hours of May 11, a tragic accident along Malaysia’s Gerik-Jeli road claimed the life of a baby elephant, leaving a nation mourning and a lorry driver grappling with profound grief. The driver, known only as Azhar, has broken his silence, sharing the emotional toll of an incident that unfolded on a dark, foggy stretch of forest-lined highway.
A Night of Tragedy
Azhar, a father of six from Kedah, was behind the wheel of a poultry lorry when the unthinkable happened. Tasked with transporting chickens from Penang to a slaughterhouse in Kota Baru, his routine journey took a devastating turn around 2:30 a.m. Having taken over driving duties from a colleague at the Titiwangsa rest stop in Gerik, Azhar navigated a downhill bend when he spotted an adult elephant by the roadside. Following standard practice among lorry drivers, he dimmed his high-beam headlights to avoid startling the animal.
“The adult elephant seemed calm as far as I could see” Azhar told The Star. “I continued driving, but suddenly the baby elephant emerged from the forest before I could hit the brakes.” The calf was struck and pinned beneath the vehicle. Moments later, the mother elephant charged, shaking the lorry in a desperate attempt to free her young. Trapped inside with his co-driver, Azhar dialed emergency services, eventually reaching Perhilitan, Malaysia’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks. Officers arrived around 3:45 a.m., sedating the adult elephant before Azhar and his colleague could safely exit at 4:30 a.m. 
A Haunting Memory
For Azhar, who has driven heavy vehicles for two decades and traversed this route daily for the past seven years, encounters with wildlife are not uncommon. Elephants often linger by the roadside or cross the highway, a reality of navigating forest corridors in Peninsular Malaysia. “I have been on this road for years. I have heard about wildlife dying due to accidents, but I had never, ever wanted to be the cause of it” he said. Despite his caution—slowing down and adjusting headlights—the sudden appearance of the calf caught him off guard.
The emotional weight of the incident lingers. Each day, as his job demands, Azhar must pass the same stretch of road where the tragedy occurred. “I still see the tyre marks and some of the wreckage by the side of the road. I am shaken still” he admitted. The memory of the baby elephant and the mother’s five-hour vigil beside the lorry haunts him. “When I think about the baby elephant, I feel really sad. I will not forget the moment” he added.
Public Backlash and Personal Pain
In the aftermath, Azhar faced a wave of criticism on social media, with some accusing lorry drivers of recklessness. “People accuse lorry drivers of being heartless. I understand their anger, but I feel hurt. I am very down” he shared. Yet, official investigations have found no evidence of negligence. Supt Zulkifli Mahmood, the Gerik police chief at the time, confirmed that Azhar was not at fault in the incident.
The driver’s anguish reflects a deeper tension between human infrastructure and wildlife habitats in Malaysia. Roads like the Gerik-Jeli highway cut through critical elephant corridors, putting both animals and motorists at risk. While Azhar’s story highlights his personal remorse, it also underscores a systemic issue that continues to challenge conservationists and policymakers.
A Shared Loss
The death of the baby elephant resonated deeply across Malaysia, a country where elephants are both a national treasure and an endangered species. The image of a grieving mother standing guard over her calf struck a chord, sparking conversations about road safety and wildlife protection. For Azhar, the tragedy is a personal scar, one that he carries with every journey along the forested highway.
As Malaysia grapples with balancing development and conservation, stories like Azhar’s remind us of the human cost intertwined with environmental loss. Each passing day on the Gerik-Jeli road serves as a somber tribute to a life lost—and a call for solutions that might prevent such heartbreak in the future.
