Elephant death leads to shelter scrutiny
LAMPANG: The shelter that reintroduces elephants to the wold has been urged to find ways to stop the animals from roaming after one was killed by an inter-city bus late on Friday night.
Chanomphum Jomtan, chief of the wildlife conservation unit of Protected Area Regional Office 13 in Lampang, said the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation must restrict their movement as there had been similar cases in the past.
A male elephant was killed and the driver badly hurt when a bus rammed into it in Hang Chat district late on Friday night. No passengers were hurt.
The Bangkok-Chiang Mai air-conditioned bus was travelling along the Lampang-Chiang Mai route when it hit the elephant near Khun Tan hill in Hang Chat district about 10pm. The force of the crash killed the elephant on the spot. Bus driver Narit Jittrong, 45, was badly injured and trapped in his seat until a rescue team was able to free him.
Mr Chanomphum said elephants frequently broke out of the centre and wandered down to Mae Pon creek, which is close to the Lampang-Chiang Mai road. He suggested the ERF set up high wooden fences to contain the jumbos.
The ERF earlier said it wanted to build an electrified barbed wire fence, but needed financial support before it could go ahead.
Mr Chanomphum said talks were needed among those involved to find ways to solve the problem. The ERF has released 33 elephants into Doi Phamuang wildlife sanctuary and the dead animal, eight-yearold Plai Udom, was among a group of six ready to follow.
Mr Chanomphum said long-term plans should involve the arrangement of new food and water sources for the animals which are far from any roads.
Soraida Salwala, founder of Friends of the Asian Elephant, called on relevant agencies to find measures to prevent pachyderms from roaming onto the streets.
“This case is not unprecedented. There is also the case of a petrol truck crashing into an elephant, leaving two people dead,” Ms Soraida said.
Campaigns to release elephants into the forest should include measures to guard against pachyderms coming out of the forest as this could lead to road accidents and a decline in the number of jumbos, she added.
Police said they were investigating why the elephant was on the loose and walking on the road.
The bus was going up Khun Tan hill at the time and the driver told police he could not see the elephant in the darkness.