The elephant centre at Kuala Gandah was established in 1989 by the Malaysian Department of Wildlife and National Parks. It is located in the state of Pahang about a two hour drive inland from Kuala Lumpur in the middle of peninsular Malaysia. The centre is situated on the edge of Krau Wildlife Reserve and is the headquarters for the Malaysian Elephant Translocation Team. The primary role of the Translocation Team, itself established in 1974, is to capture wild elephants that are encroaching on plantations or population centres and to relocate them to national parks. In the past these "nuisance" elephants were usually shot or poisoned, but in the early 1970s the Malaysian government realized that the population of wild elephants was rapidly decreasing. In response to this, the Elephant Translocation Team was created. Over the past 3.5 decades the team has successfully relocated hundreds of elephants to national parks, raising the wild elephant population in Malaysia from an alarming low of about 500 to over 1200. The team, led by their leader Nasharuddin, was the subject of a National Geographic special (circa 1999) called "Return to the Wild: The Homeless Elephant" directed by Amanda Feldon and produced by Simon Nasht.
When a wild elephant is found to be encroaching on farms or population centres, the Elephant Translocation Team is called out. Their first task is to track the wild elephant and tranquilize it, a job that can take days or even weeks. Once the elephant is tranquilized, the next challenge is to move a huge, groggy, and generally uncooperative animal out of the jungle and onto a waiting truck. This is when the team relies on two translocation elephants to lead the wild elephant out. Without the help of the translocation elephants, it would be impossible to get the wild elephant out of the jungle. The two elephants position themselves on either side of the captured elephant while the team attaches chains around its shoulders. They then slowly and safely move the captured elephant out of the jungle and onto a waiting truck. The captured elephant is taken by road, and then often by barge, to one of a number of protected natural areas where it is set free.
In the 1990s, the Malaysian Department of Wildlife and National Parks, in partnership with the Smithsonian Institute and the Boh Tea Company, began to collect data on translocated elephants. The partnership established a Satellite Tracking Program in which radio collars were attached to the elephants before they were set free. A research team could then gather information on an elephant's movements after its release. It was hoped that this information would be a crucial link to our understanding of elephant behaviour and would help the Malaysian government and concerned organizations worldwide in their work to protect the Asian elephant population.
The Smithonian ran the project for several years but it seems that they have now moved on to other regions and are no longer actively tracking the elephants in peninsular Malaysia. Moreover, the project was expensive and appears to have encountered a few technical difficulties. Nevertheless, during its implementation, the project was able to gather vast amounts of data that has proved invaluable to furthering knowledge about the Asian elephant and informing similar initiatives in other parts of the world.
 | | A tranquilized elephant is lead out of the jungle by Chek Mek and Mek Bunga | | |  | | The elephant is taken by barge to its new home |
| |  | | The elephant is released in a national park | | |
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