Earlier this week, an elephant was found dead in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand. A vet team determined that the cause of death was due to severe electric shock from the fence of a mango farm.
Most likely on the search for food, the creature had burn marks on its trunk, as reported by the park rangers. Komsak Sithadee and Siamrath Moyai, the landowners, admitted that their mango farm is protected by electric fences.
They remain uncertain if the elephant died on their fence as there are other elephants in the area that have not been electrocuted. 'Normally, our generator would stop working after it has touched something but when we checked, the generator was still working. So we don't know if the elephant touched our electric fence or another,' they shared.
A vet team worked with the rangers to determine the cause of death. The post-mortem examination including assessment of the animal's organs has yet to reveal if it was indeed electrocuted. Rakpong Boonyoi, the head park ranger, said that if the result agrees with their speculations, Komsak and Siamrath will be charged. Rakpong said, 'we will interrogate the owners of the fruit grove for more information to check if they were involved in the death of the elephant. If they are, we will have to charge them for harming the animal.'
Freedom
Since the pandemic forced all elephant tourist sites in Thailand to shut down and gravely affecting the nation's tourism industry, hundreds of elephants have been freed, rescued, and roam freely on protected land. Last month, the greatest elephant migration occurred across the land for elephants to arrive in the safe villages of Chiang Mai where they currently coexist peacefully with the community.
In Khao Yai National Park, almost 300 elephants have been roaming freely, reclaiming the land without human disturbance, as the park closed for the first time since its opening in 1962. Without heavy traffic and mass crowds, the normal scenario pre-pandemic days, other creatures have joined in the freedom as well, namely the Asian black bear and the gaur, a wild bison. Chananya Kanchanasaka, one of the park's vets, expressed her excitement to witness the park go through restoration.
Before, human activity disturbed the nature park so drastically that the development of roads broke the elephant's former trails towards the river. The herd was pushed to make a route at the cliffside, which was prone to flash floods and where many elephants have fallen and drowned.
Last year October, a baby elephant fell over the edge of a waterfall called Haew Narok (Hell's Fall), and some members jumped to try and save it. The tragic accident involved the mass drowning of 11 elephants, the highest record since the mass drowning of eight elephants in the same place in 1992.
Restoration
Kemthong Morat, a prominent conservationist who went on a hunger strike on behalf of the creatures and catching international attention, had said that the 11 deaths could have been prevented if the park had only been managed properly. She also said that park management 'forgot that the national park's purpose is for research and conservation. Khao Yai's big tourism revenues made them forget the main purpose of the park.'
Vet Chananya remains hopeful with how the pandemic is affecting wildlife. 'Nature can restore itself to its fullest.'
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