The Star reported that the Kuala Gandah Elephants Conservation Centre is suffering after the new wildlife act was enforced. The centre used to allow visitors to ride the elephants and bathe them in the river. But such activities had to stop due to the Wildlife Protection Act 2010, and because of this, the centre is no longer attracting tourists.
The Pahang government is apparently concerned about this situation as the elephant conservation centre had generated a lot of spill-over income to the locals.
The article also said that tour bus operators, souvenir shops, taxi drivers, tourist guides and other related tourism sectors were affected by the new wildlife act, to stop the above mentioned activities with elephants.
Apparently, the act has driven operators to cancel bookings made by tourists to visit the centre, and to other tourist stops in their tour package such as the nearby Deerland and Biodiversity Centre in Bukit Rengit.
Other tour-related operators throughout the country were also affected due to some of the clauses in the act, such as the crocodile farm in Malacca and the butterfly centres in Perak.
The article noted that the matter of the elephant conservation centre will be discussed again to save the tourism sector in Pahang.
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