100 elephants could be evacuated from camp in central Thailand due to floods
Thailand’s beloved national animal is another victim of the country’s floods. In the central province of Ayutthaya, officials are preparing to possibly evacuate about 100 elephants from a camp after a river overflowed.
The Lopburi River had risen 30 centimetres as of yesterday morning, Nation Thailand reported. The flooding from the overflow impacted houses in Ayutthaya’s main city district, as well as the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace & Royal Kraal.
Grass fields that the elephants eat from have now been swamped, according to the camp’s deputy director. Workers, volunteers, and troops were rushing to build flood levees to protect the camp.
The camp’s deputy director, Riangthongbat Meephan, said officials would first try to move the elephants to higher ground away from the river bank. He said, however, that the elephants might have to be moved to another tambon if the water overflows the levees.
Floods are plundering communities across Thailand. With large areas of croplands being suffocated by seasonal storms and rising rivers, food prices are at risk of increasing while tourism recovery is undoubtedly being slowed.
An estimated 1.2 million rai of cropland was hit with almost 82,000 houses reportedly damaged across 510 districts. As more storms are forecasted for the next few weeks, the government is taking steps to minimise further damage to crops and houses.
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