JAKARTA, Nov. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- A herd of some 20 wild elephants from a national park in Indonesia's province of Lampung ventured again into nearby settlements in the past week, ravaging plantations and residents' houses, the Jakarta Post reported Friday.

    Joko Santoso of the Illegal Logging Response Center said that the elephants from the South Bukit Barisan National Park resorted to destructive behavior due to the gradual encroachment on their habitat by illegal loggers and the consequent shortage of food.

    "Extensive land clearance and illegal logging activities have heightened the conflict between the elephants and residents living around the national park," said Joko.

    According to Joko, there are still around 300 to 400 elephants remaining in the South Bukit Barisan and Way Kambas national parksin the province. "They require an adequate range of habitats and food sources, without which they will come out from the forest and venture into farms or plantations and villages near them," said Joko.

    The conflict has been going for the past few years and it remains to be seen whether the problem can be resolved soon.

    A former World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) activist, Emon, 30, said that the elephants resorted to such behavior because their habitat had been encroached on due to rampant illegal logging.

    The head of the South Bukit Barisan National Park, Tamen Sitorus, said that the elephants usually enter the villages twice a year using a similar route generally at night and return to the forest the next morning.

    According to Tamen, his office has assigned seven forest rangers, assisted by local residents, to drive the elephants back to the forest using traditional methods, such as bamboo torches and beating bamboo or wooden drums. Enditem