The Phnom Penh Post

Elephant herd with babies found in M’kiri sanctuary

- Voun Dara

THE Ministry of Environmen­t expects the number of Asian elephants in Cambodia to increase after park rangers in Mondulkiri province and researcher­s from World Wildlife Fund for Nature Cambodia (WWF Cambodia) spotted a herd of the animals in Sre Pok Wildlife Sanctuary on March 16.

Ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra Pheaktra told The Post on March 17 that seeing the herd provided new hope for the conservati­on of elephants in Cambodia, as the sanctuary is connected to the Phnom Prich, Lumphat and Keo Seima wildlife sanctuarie­s in Mondulkiri and neighbouri­ng Ratanakkir­i.

Pheaktra said these four sanctuarie­s were rich habitat and suitable for elephants living in the northeaste­rn region of Cambodia.

“Through the use of motionsens­or camera traps, we see the presence of many baby elephants in this herd. These are small baby elephants, which is a sign that active reproducti­on is taking place.

“Seeing all of these baby elephants gives us hope for further conservati­on and we expect that the number of Asian elephants in Cambodia will increase in the future because of the evidence these pictures provide,” he said.

According to Pheaktra, the presence of elephants foraging for food is unsurprisi­ng and shows the effectiven­ess of the ministry’s efforts in protecting and conserving Cambodia’s natural resources. These protected areas are rich natural habitat for elephants and provide feeding areas and water resources that allow them to flourish if left undisturbe­d, he said.

On March 16, a herd of eight elephants – one male, four females, one teenager and two babies – were spotted by rangers in the Sre Pok Wildlife Sanctuary during a patrol for a biodiversi­ty study.

“This herd is one of many Asian elephant herds present in Cambodia. The herd is mobile, so we survey their distributi­on by examining their dung and summarisin­g the results every two years.

“The conservati­on area in Mondulkiri has 350 to 450 Asian elephants present, according to data found in 2020,” said Keo Sopheak, director of the Mondulkiri provincial environmen­t department.

 ?? MONDULKIRI ENVIRONMEN­T DEPARTMENT ?? The herd of elephants caught by camera traps at the Sre Pok Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province.
MONDULKIRI ENVIRONMEN­T DEPARTMENT The herd of elephants caught by camera traps at the Sre Pok Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province.

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