Efforts ramp up to keep wild elephants inside Korat national park
Locals have joined park rangers in preventing a herd of wild elephants from shifting to the nearby Khao Khad Valley, which borders villagers’ farms
Rangers, volunteers and villagers in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Ban Mai and Jorakhe Hin subdistricts have been working together for four months to prevent a herd of wild elephants from leaving the confines of the Thap Lan National Park.
The 2,240 square kilometre park spans across the Northeast provinces of Prachinburi, Sa Kaew and Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat). The park’s area in Korat’s Khon Buri district is home to different kinds of wildlife, including a herd of some 100 wild elephants.
Prawatsart Chanthep, chief of Thap Lan National Park, said on Friday that these elephants have been trying to make their way to the Khao Khad Valley in the Khon Buri National Forest Reserve because it sports a forest and water resources. He said the valley is also attractive to the pachyderms because it is near villagers’ plantations, which they see as an endless source of food.
“Last year, the elephants came down from the national park and stayed at the Khao Khad Valley for nearly four months, trespassing people’s farms and causing substantial damages to the crops,” he said.
To prevent this from happening again, the villagers and park rangers are better prepared. They have been patrolling the national park’s border since September and driving back wild elephants that have been trying to leave Thaplan.
Prawatsart said thermal images taken by a drone show that some 80-100 elephants have been circling the border, looking for ways to leave for the new habitat.
He added that park officials, volunteers and villagers will continue standing their ground and pushing the elephants back to the forest, where they will cause no trouble.
