Elephants in the news

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WILDLIFE / DROUGHT PUTS ELEPHANTS IN PERIL
Food shortages force jumbos out of jungles

POST REPORTERS

Severe drought and slash-and-burn farming practices are forcing wild elephants to come out of their natural habitats in search of food, activists say. ''The drought crisis, coupled with ecologically destructive farming practices, pose a major threat to natural sources of food and shelter for elephants in the wild,'' said Soraida Salwala, founder of the Friends of the Asian Elephant group, in an interview with the Bangkok Post.

''Undoubtedly, the drastic climate change is now a cause of concern because if it drags on and worsens, the well-being of hundreds of elephants will be in jeopardy,'' she said.

In Kanchanaburi province, Pinan Chotiroseranee, president of the Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, blamed a mass exodus of wild elephants into the outside world on human encroachment on their natural habitat in the Salak Phra wildlife sanctuary, which is currently experiencing a serious shortage of water.

On average, an adult elephant drinks between 150-200 litres of water and eats some 200 kilogrammes of food daily. Therefore, in times of drought wild elephants are forced to come out of their natural habitats to search for food and water. This often results in the animals being injured or killed by people whose farms or plantations are raided.

In Surin, around 87 pachyderms kept at an elephant centre in Tha Tum district are facing a severe shortage of water, as a result of the drought which ravaged 1,594 villages in eleven districts and four sub-districts of this northeastern province.

Centre director Kraisak Worathat said the drought had badly affected some 300 rai of Bana grass grown as elephant food, forcing mahouts to buy sugar cane, corn, and other crops to feed their hungry animals.

Deputy provincial governor Wirat Limsuwat said cloud-seeding operations began on Thursday and would continue for 220 days to produce rain to alleviate water shortages in the lower northeastern region.

Bangkok Post March 17, 2007

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Israeli holds elephant hostage in Thailand

A hostage negotiation team was called in after an Israeli tourist kidnapped a baby elephant while being pursued by Thai police, Ynetnews reported Tuesday.

According to the report, Yoram Ben-Hamo, an Israeli tourist, was suspected of driving drunk when he crashed into three vehicles on his way to Bangkok, injuring one.

After fleeing the scene, Ben-Hamo reportedly acquired a knife and stole a baby elephant from a nearby neighborhood yard and held it hostage, threatening to hurt the elephant should police not leave him alone.

Hostage negotiators were called in, and Ben-Hamo was captured while lighting a cigarette given to him but the police.

Ben-Hamo claimed he fled the car accident for fear of being arrested, and captured the elephant to avoid being so.

Ben-Hamo was convicted of capturing, holding hostage and endangering an elephant, and received a fine of 500 baht ($15).

The Thai media criticized the lenient punishment, the elephant being the national symbol of Thailand.

Israelinsider May 1, 2007

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Elephants a symbol of Thailand's shame

Of all the illegal activities that animate the streets of Bangkok - the vendors who hawk pirated DVDs and fake watches, the brothels that call themselves saunas - one stands out more than others.

Elephants are not supposed to saunter down the city's streets as they do almost every night. For at least two decades the giant grey beasts have plodded through this giant grey city, stopping off at red-light districts and tourist areas where their handlers peddle elephant snacks of sugar cane and bananas to passers-by.

Occasionally the elephants knock off the side-view mirrors from cars or stumble into gutters and cut themselves on sharp objects.

The police shrug, politicians periodically order crackdowns and animal lovers despair.

The creation of a Stray Elephant Task Force in 2006 did not keep the elephants off the city streets. Nor did the team of undercover elephant enforcers who periodically cruise through Bangkok on motorcycles scouting for the beasts.

"To be honest, nobody wants to do this job, nobody wants to deal with the elephants," said Prayote Promsuwon, the head of the Stray Elephant Task Force, which was formed after an elephant handler, fleeing the police, raced his elephant the wrong way down a large Bangkok boulevard, causing traffic chaos.

The police shy away from detaining the elephants' handlers, also known as mahouts, because they fear they will not be able to control the animals on their own.

"This is a dangerous job," Prayote said. "An angry elephant can destroy cars and make trouble and then we have responsibility for the damage."

The Government says there are 3837 domesticated elephants in Thailand. Only a tiny fraction come into Bangkok, usually no more than half a dozen each evening, but they are hard to miss. Many Thais say they serve as a daily reminder of the inequalities in Thailand, the gap between provincial poverty and urban wealth.

Mahouts bring their elephants into the city for the same reasons that the sons and daughters of rice farmers try their luck as waiters, golf caddies and massage therapists in Bangkok: they need the money.

But to critics, elephants in the city highlight the persistent impunity of lawbreakers in Thailand, a country with no shortage of rules but gaping lapses in enforcement. Thailand has eight distinct laws that can be used to arrest mahouts who bring elephants into the city, rules ranging from moving violations to wildlife protection, public health and urban tidiness.

Brisbanetimes Feb. 17, 2008

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Elephant rampage

By Prasit Tangprasert

Nakhon Ratchasima - Wild elephants trampled to death one Buddhist monk on a forest pilgrimage and seriously injured another in Thap Lan national park on Thursday.

The two were members of a group of 11 monks who had gone to meditate in Khon Buri forest reserve, within the park boundaries.

Phra Natthaporn Kittiyano, 38, was trampled to death and Phra Wichian Khemmako, 43, sustained multiple broken bones and was rushed to a local hospital. The other monks in the group were unharmed.

Phra Voravit Ammaro, who led the monks on the forest pilgrimage, said they had travelled from Wat Chaimongkhol monastic centre in Phichit's Bang Mum Nak district to stay at the Boling monastic centre in the national park.

Nine of the monks went into the forest reserve to meditate yesterday.

They split into three groups. The two victims were in the last group, which came across a herd of 15 wild elephants raiding villagers' fruit orchards about 6pm.

Some of the females in the herd had calves with them and may have been startled by the monks and acted to protect their young, said Phra Voravit.

They attacked Phra Natthaporn and Phra Wichian.

The two monks shouted for help and other monks ran to try and help them, but they were chased away by the herd. Some of the monks climbed up a big tree which was quickly surrounded by some of the elephants.

After the herd finally retreated into the jungle, the monks sought help from the Boling monastic centre and local residents.

Phra Pichit Wichitto, the abbot of Boling monastic centre, said monks from other provinces frequently travel to Thap Lan national park for meditation, but this was the first time any had been attacked by wild animals.

Yutthana Sringern-ngarm, chief of Thap Lan national park, also said it was likely the herd attacked the monks because they feared for the safety of their young.

Bangkok Post Feb. 22, 2008

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Elephant Sampram doomed to crippled life

Veterinarians on Thursday ruled out surgery for Sampran, the 6-year-old elephant whose forefoot has swollen to a monstrous size after being injured in a hunter's trap two years ago.

"We can't operate on the foot because there would be too much blood loss," said Dr Sittidej Mahasawangkul after taking an x-ray of Sampran's damaged foot at Lampang National Elephant Institute hospital in the North.

Sampran, a wild elephant, was finally brought to the hospital for treatment Thursday after suffering from a foot injury inflicted by a hunter's trap more than two years ago.

Forest rangers at Khao Ang Rue Nai wildlife sanctuary befriended the young elephant by offering it food, until it trusted them enough to be brought to hospital for treatment.

But vets who examined the elephant's wound said it could never be completely healed.

"The infection has gotten in to the bone, which has grown like a tumour," said Dr Sittidej, in a telephone interview from Lampang hospital. "We may be able to keep it alive with antibiotics and treatment, but Sampran will always be a cripple."

The Lampang National Elephant Institute is the world's first hospital to specialise in pachyderm treatment, funded by donations, earnings off tourists who visit the hospital and the government. (dpa)

Bangkok Post March 7, 2008

See a picture there: http://www.stern.de/unterhaltung/fotogr ... 13255.html

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Enraged elephant stomps 3 Thai workers to death

BANGKOK (AP) — A rampaging elephant stomped three rubber tappers to death in southern Thailand on Wednesday after it was left to wander freely by its handler, police said.

The 38-year-old domesticated elephant is believed to have attacked the workers in three separate plantations in Trang province before it was recaptured.

The beast first crushed a 44-year-old male worker before dawn, then struck at another plantation a few kilometers (miles) away, killing a 38-year-old female rubber tapper, said police Lt. Sonjit Ma-ou.

"Her husband saw it charging toward her, grabbing her body with its trunk and throwing her on the ground before stomping on her body," Sonjit said.

A 51-year-old woman was found dead in a rubber plantation nearby, Sonjit said, adding that various bones in her body appeared to have been broken.

"There was no witness in the last case, but we found footprints of the beast and from the manner in which she was killed, we believe it was an attack by the same elephant," he said.

The elephant was later captured and taken back to its owner, who was made to chain it up. The authorities were investigating whether the elephant's handler was negligent in letting it wander free, Sonjit said.

It was unclear what might have prompted the rampage, but Songjit said the elephant had previously attacked and wounded at least three other people in the area.

Working elephants in Thailand are typically used for tasks such as logging, but a growing number are used as tourist attractions on the streets of Bangkok and at camps around the country.

Associated Press July 1, 2009