Herd of 40 wild elephants devour 60 rai of crops in northeast Thailand

Drone images reveal a herd of more than 40 elephants roaming in a forest just four kilometres away from a farming community in Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeast Thailand. Farmers say the hungry herd have devoured 60 rai of crops in one week, feasting on rice, sugarcane, and corn.

The elephants came out of the forest at Thap Lan National Park, a World Heritage Site, to look for food in the Khao Pradu community, Jorokay Hin subdistrict, Khon Buri district.

After a week of destruction, Deputy District Chief of Khon Buri Sitthikorn Hankharna, national park officials, community leaders, Buddhist monks and disaster foundations have come together to work out how to drive the herd away from the farmland.

The thermal imaging drone captured around 40 elephants, but officials believe there may be up to 100 elephants in the herd in total.

Local people make a living from farming, but over the past week, everything in a 60 rai stretch has been trampled on or eaten, causing economic ruin to the community. Leader of Jorokay Hin subdistrict, Oraya Luengkatrok, said she is worried about the serious damage presented to locals by wild elephants from the national park.

Thailand’s elephants seem to be getting more desperate for food, with stories of elephants wreaking havoc in communities emerging almost daily in the kingdom. A week ago, a woman in Prachin Buri province was woken up by an elephant smashing its way into her kitchen through a concrete wall. The elephant stuck its trunk through the wall, stealing fermented fish and other goodies from her kitchen.

A few weeks prior, a man in Hua Hin was trampled to death in his community by elephants which had exited Kaeng Krachan National Park, presumably in search of food.

SOURCE: CH3