Nghe An: Hundreds of people stay up all night to chase away wild elephants

At around midnight on December 10, the family of Ms. Luong Thi Thai (47 years old), in Dom 1 village, Chau Phong commune (Quy Chau), was sleeping when they were awakened by a strange noise. Quickly getting up, Ms. Thai was shocked to see a wild elephant using its trunk to try to tear open the window. Too scared, Ms. Thai and her husband did not dare to open the door to call out to the neighbors. The couple could only clasp their hands and beg the wild elephant.

According to the locals, this is the mother elephant in a herd of only two elephants that have been living for a long time in the natural forests of Chau Phong and Chau Hanh communes. After breaking the window of Ms. Thai's house, the elephant continued to the house of Mr. Luong Van Mai (46 years old). "When it arrived at Mr. Mai's house, it brazenly entered the kitchen area, rummaged around, and then used its trunk to break the jar of malt used to make wine. At that time, Mr. Mai and his wife shouted. The villagers quickly came," said Ms. Bui Thi Phuc in Dom 1 village.

Immediately afterwards, the forces of the Quy Chau Forest Protection Department and the elephant chasing team of Chau Phong commune quickly arrived at Dom 1 village. The functional forces and hundreds of people of Dom 1 village used many measures to chase away the elephant. Some gathered firewood to make a fire, some beat gongs, some used loudspeakers to shout, and even used whistles, but they were still helpless. After eating a full meal of Mai's house, the elephant continued to leisurely go to the house next door to rummage and eat bananas right on the porch, despite the people's chasing it away.

A wild elephant stopped by a resident's house in Dom 1 village. Photo: Bui Phuc

“The group of people kept chasing it away, but it still calmly visited each house. Last night, it visited nearly 10 houses in the village. Luckily, it did not attack people,” Ms. Phuc added. According to Ms. Phuc’s observations, this mother elephant is much thinner than before. In recent days, only the mother elephant has gone down to the residential area, while the baby elephant is still in the forest.

This is the third time in the past week that wild elephants have come down to residential areas to harass people. According to Mr. Vi Hai Duong - Deputy Head of the Elephant Chase Team in Chau Phong Commune, last night, in addition to rummaging through rice husks and bananas, this elephant also tore down a hut belonging to a local resident. It was not until nearly dawn that hundreds of people were able to chase the elephant away into the forest. At this point, it seemed like it was full.

“I don’t know why it’s not afraid of people anymore. We were just standing a few meters away but it didn’t make any movement, just leisurely like that,” said Mr. Duong.

Mr. Le Xuan Dinh - Head of Quy Chau Forest Protection Department said that in the district, there are only 2 wild elephants left, they live and operate in the natural forest area under the management of Quy Chau Protective Forest Management Board, bordering Chau Hanh and Chau Phong communes of Quy Chau district and Chau Hong commune of Quy Hop district. In recent years, due to the impact of climate change, the natural environment has gradually narrowed, as well as the living characteristics, this herd of elephants often comes close to the production areas of some households in Chau Hanh and Chau Phong communes.

Faced with this situation, the District People's Committee has directed functional departments to coordinate with the Quy Chau Forest Protection Department, the Quy Chau Protective Forest Management Board, Pu Mat National Park and the local authorities to disseminate to the people skills to ensure the safety of people's lives and property. Ensure the conservation of the two wild elephants and avoid and minimize conflicts between people and elephants. At the same time, direct the Quy Chau Protective Forest Management Board to place warning signs in areas where wild elephants frequently appear to promptly warn people and proactively prevent conflicts.

The People's Committee of Quy Chau district had to direct the two communes of Chau Phong and Chau Hanh to establish two elephant-chasing teams to promptly grasp their movements and take measures to warn and chase away elephants when they appear near people's production and farming areas. At the same time, white salt was spread at locations where wild elephants often move deep in the natural forest, far from people's production and farming areas to limit the elephants' lack of salt and prevent them from coming near people's production and farming areas.

Although there have been solutions to limit the appearance of wild elephants near people's production and farming areas, in 2022, the frequency of elephants appearing near residential areas has increased. Specifically, from October 12 to 23, 2022, 2 elephants appeared in Luong village, Huoi Phung village, Dom 1 village, Chau Phong commune, in the planted forest area of ​​households. The District People's Committee has directed the functional department to coordinate with Quy Chau Forest Protection Department, Quy Chau Protective Forest Management Board and Chau Phong commune authorities to light fires, beat gongs, use loudspeakers... to drive elephants back into the deep forest.

On December 3, elephants continued to return to residential areas to search for food, destroying crops and trees of the people in Dom 1 and Luong villages. By the evening of the same day, they appeared in the acacia forest near the residential area.

At around 2am on December 8, wild elephants appeared again at Huoi Hu stream and destroyed the hut and crops of Mr. Vi Van Hieu's family in Luong village. After being chased away by local people and authorities, they moved down to Canh Cuc and Pha Bat streams to continue destroying the crops of Mr. Lo Van Xuan's family in Dom 1 village. Authorities, local authorities and people had to chase them away for 2 hours before the elephants agreed to enter the forest. However, by noon of the same day, they even moved down to Provincial Road 544 and leisurely walked in the middle of the road, causing vehicles to not dare to pass.

To ensure good nature conservation as well as ensure the safety of people's lives and property, avoid causing panic and fear for people when entering the forest. The People's Committee of Quy Chau district has issued a document requesting all levels and sectors to conduct inspections, surveys, specific assessments, and long-term solutions to stabilize people's lives in the area and protect wildlife according to the law. Provide financial support to households whose assets and crops are damaged by wild elephants...