He said the welfare and safety of the animals must be prioritised throughout the process to minimise risk.

“It’s not a case of making the decision today and bringing them back tomorrow. There is an existing agreement between Taiping Zoo & Night Safari and Tennoji Zoo.

“The matter requires careful consideration. As for when they may be brought home, I cannot say as I do not have the details,” Bernama reported him as saying at Mersing Polytechnic in Johor.

Syed Ibrahim said the ministry has entrusted Taiping Zoo and the Taiping Municipal Council with handling matters related to the elephants, including any necessary follow-up action.

Natural resources and environmental sustainability minister Arthur Joseph Kurup had previously said that while his ministry was not a party to the transfer agreement with Tennoji Zoo, there were legitimate grounds for calls to bring the elephants home.

Pahang menteri besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail was among those who had called for the elephants to be returned to Malaysia and placed at the Kuala Gandah National Elephant Conservation Centre in Temerloh, which he said offered a more suitable environment for their welfare and behavioural needs.

The three elephants from Taiping Zoo arrived at Tennoji Zoo on March 11 as part of the Malaysian Elephant Conservation Programme, aimed at improving conservation and research efforts.

On May 8, mahout Suhaimi Ibrahim, the elephant handler who spent a month at Tennoji Zoo with the three elephants was reported as denying that they were suffering in their new environment.

Suhaimi, from the Kuala Gandah National Elephant Conservation Centre who was tasked with accompanying the elephants to Japan and training eight local handlers, said the animals were healthy and comfortable.