The unsolved problem of merging individual elephant herds in Nghe An

Lonely Elephants

In late October, people living along the edge of the forest in Chau Phong commune (Quy Chau) lived in fear becauseTwo mother and baby wild elephants often come near residential areas.The continuous appearance of wild elephants is raising concerns that the habitat of many wild animals in general and wild elephants in particular is being seriously threatened.

According to the elders in Chau Phong commune, the old forests in Chau Phong and Chau Hanh used to be the habitat of dozens of elephants. However, hunting for many years has gradually killed them. Especially nearly 30 years ago, there was a time when two male elephants were killed at the same time for their tusks. That is why, from a large herd of elephants, now there are only two mother and baby wild elephants who have relied on each other for more than 10 years. This is also the only remaining herd of elephants in Quy Chau district.

Although there are still 2 elephants, the herd in Quy Chau district is still considered a “lonely herd” because this herd does not have both male and female elephants, and has no ability to develop. They will die, and the herd will be wiped out in the near future if it is not urgently merged with another herd. This is also the plight of many other single herds in Nghe An province.

This herd of two elephants will eventually be wiped out if there are no male elephants to develop the breed. Photo: HT

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture, Nghe An province has 5 herds of elephants with about 16 elephants; it is the locality with the third largest number of wild elephants in the country, after Dak Lak and Dong Nai. However, out of the 5 herds, there are 3 single herds that are no longer able to develop. In addition to the 2 mother and child wild elephants in Quy Chau district, there is also a female elephant living in the forests of Nam Son and Bac Son communes (Quy Hop). This female elephant has lived alone for more than 20 years, since the members of the herd were trapped and hunted one after another... It seems that because it is so lonely, it often comes back to harass the villagers. In 2021 alone, according to statistics from Quy Hop district, this elephant caused 120 million VND in damage to the people of Nam Son and Bac Son communes. The third single herd of elephants is the female elephant that often comes to the villages in Luc Da and Chi Khe communes (Con Cuong).

Of the remaining two elephant herds, a herd of about four elephants that usually lives in Pu Mat National Park, in Tam Hop commune (Tuong Duong), has not been recorded for many years. Because their habitat is close to the border, experts do not rule out the possibility that this herd has moved to Laos. Therefore, in Nghe An, there is only one wild elephant herd that has been recorded to have developed in the past 10 years. That is a herd of eight elephants that often appears in Cao Veu village, Phuc Son commune (Anh Son). Specifically, after 10 years, this herd of elephants was recorded to have increased by one baby elephant.

The female elephant in Con Cuong has lived alone for more than 20 years, since the male elephant was killed in 1996. During the rut season, local people have repeatedly discovered this female elephant returning to the village to make friends with male buffalo. Photo: HT

Helplessly watching the elephant herd gradually being wiped out

Faced with the conflict between elephants and humans as well as to preserve and develop individual elephant herds, many localities such as Quy Hop and Quy Chau districts have repeatedly sent documents to the Provincial People's Committee and related departments and branches to consider the plan to relocate elephants to Pu Mat National Park. This is a large area with the function of preserving wild animals and plants. Not to mention, there are many elephant herds living here, helping individual elephant herds have friends to reproduce and develop further.

However, speaking to Nghe An Newspaper reporter, Ms. Vo Thi Nhung - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that this plan is almost impossible, at least at the present time. "Nearly 10 years ago, when the Wild Elephant Conservation Project was launched, the Agriculture sector also considered a plan to develop elephant herds. However, it must be admitted that it is very difficult. If not impossible," Ms. Nhung said.

Of the 5 elephant herds in Nghe An, 3 are no longer able to develop and will be wiped out in the near future. The remaining herd has not been recorded for many years. The only herd that has recorded growth is the herd in the South of Pu Mat, which has increased by 1 elephant in the past 10 years. Photo: HT

According to Ms. Nhung, in fact, wild elephants have been moved to new ecological areas many times across the country, but all of these moves have failed because the new ecological areas are not suitable, and the elephants cannot integrate with the new herd. In particular, the Tanh Linh elephant herd in Binh Thuan province was moved to Dak Lak province more than 20 years ago. Although the move was meticulously planned, they quickly died due to many reasons, mainly due to exhaustion and an unsuitable living environment.

“Moving wild elephants is extremely complicated. Usually, we have to tranquilize them and then transport them. However, in Nghe An, elephants often live in rugged mountainous areas. Tranquilizing elephants is also dangerous for elephants. Not to mention, after tranquilizing elephants, it is also very difficult to move them out of the forest because of the rugged terrain and difficult access by vehicles,” said Ms. Nhung.

Currently, there are two types of anesthetics, fast-acting and slow-acting. The fast-acting type causes the elephant to be anesthetized immediately after being shot, which will seriously affect the elephant's health. Especially in steep mountainous terrain, it is possible that after being shot, the elephant will collapse and fall into a ravine or roll down the slope to die. The second type takes effect after about 25 minutes. If this type is used, after being shot, the elephant will panic and run into the deep forest. Thus, it will be difficult for those who shot the anesthetic to catch up to know where it will collapse. Sometimes they can't find it after a whole day, and when they do find it, they have to destroy the forest to make a road to take it away, which is very expensive. Not to mention, on the way to escape after being shot, the elephant may be in danger.

A lonely elephant. Photo: HT

An officer of Pu Mat National Park who has spent many years researching wild elephants in Nghe An said that the sense of territory of wild elephants is very strong, so merging herds seems impossible. “Through many years of research, I discovered that there are many elephant herds that live very close to each other. But they never encroach on each other's territory. That is the sense of territory. That is why even if we anesthetize them and move them together, it will be very difficult for them to survive. Because it is not their territory,” he said.

However, according to Ms. Vo Thi Nhung, regarding the issue of elephant relocation, the Department has been proposing research institutes to fully investigate the necessary and sufficient factors to implement the relocation of these elephants to new safe areas. During the time living with wild elephants, Ms. Nhung suggested that localities propagate to people that when wild elephants appear, they need to use gongs, drums, and gongs to make loud noises to drive them away. Absolutely do not use any measures that can harm wild elephants. In cases where the elephants' lives are in danger, the criminal responsibility of the relevant collectives and individuals must be prosecuted. The People's Committees of districts are responsible for directing local authorities at the commune level and households living near forests and forest edges to plant crops that are not food sources for elephants to limit destruction.