UPDATE: 100 stranded elephants returned to park in northeast Thailand

UPDATE

Over 100 wild elephants have been returned to a national park after about 40 of them were found devouring farmers’ crops this week in the northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province.

The gentle giants had been spotted looking for food in the Khao Pradu community, feasting on rice, sugarcane, and corn. The farmers said they had munched 60 rai of crops in one week.

Luckily, national park officials have led the stray creatures back to their homes. The head of Thap Lan National Park said that officials managed to drive back 54 wild elephants to the forest on Thursday. The officials continued the next day to lead the remaining elephants back to the park, using drones to search the area.

On Friday night, the head of the park estimated that about 100 elephants had returned to the forest. He added that even though the search was over, some officials were still on standby in areas where elephants might return, to ensure public safety.

The rescue foundation Hook Foundation 31 Nakhon Ratchasima posted about the mission on Facebook.

ORIGINAL STORY

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: Bangkok Post | CH3