Thai Villagers Move to Protect Wild Elephants
12/4/97
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Headline: Thai Villagers Move to Protect Wild Elephants
Source: Mark Graffis (ab758@VIRGIN.USVI.NET)
Date: 12/4/97
WILDLIFE ECOLOGY Digest (WED) #43
Topic #37
From: Mark Graffis (ab758@VIRGIN.USVI.NET)
BANGKOK (http://www.nando.net):
Villagers in southern Thailand are rallying round to protect wild
elephants threatened by poachers and deforestation after several died,
a report said Sunday.
More than 100 villagers in Prachuab Kiri Khan province have set up a
club to keep watch on elephants that roam a local forest reserve after
at least half a dozen died, including two by poisoning.
The Kui Buri Forest and Elephants Club will also educate communities
about the behavior patterns of the estimated 200 elephants that live
in nearby jungle areas.
"Our most urgent task is to keep the elephants away from crops. The
fastest solutions are electric fences and growing wild bananas --
their favourite wild food," Sun Muakmuang, a village headman and chief
of the new club, told the Bangkok Post.
Because of encroachment on their forest habitat, the elephants are
forced to eat crops to survive. Villagers have resorted to letting off
firecrackers or shooting guns to scare them away.
Earlier this year at least two elephants were killed after drinking
water from a pond contaminated with pesticide. Forestry officials are
still not sure whether it was an accident or deliberate poisoning by
farmers.
That highly publicized case has improved the chances that the the
240,000 acre area will be classified next year as a national park,
which will mean more funding for conservation.
Only about 1,000 wild elephants are left in the whole of Thailand.
Rapid deforestation over recent decades has robbed them of their
natural habitat.
Numbers of domesticated elephants, mostly used as working animals in
forested areas, are also dwindling in the high-tech age with only
about 3,500 left nationwide.
The decision to set up the club came after a one-month old elephant
calf died from malnutrition and dehydration after it was found in
upland forests -- probably driven into unsuitable terrain by poachers.
The club was formally started on Friday, with 300 wild banana trees
planted along the elephants' feeding path, in a bid to help monitor
them.
Boonlue Poonil, a local forest chief, said that in the long-term the
club aims to replant more of the Kui Buri jungle, which is the only
way to assure the survival of the remaining elephants.