Elephant conservation in Nghe An: Urgent work!

(Baonghean) -Nghe An is one of the three provinces with the best natural elephant herds and habitats in Vietnam. However, the elephant herd in Nghe An is facing the risk of being destroyed. Since 1995, at least 9 elephants (including 8 male elephants and 1 female) have been shot or killed by mines, or killed for their tusks. Preserving the elephant herd is extremely urgent. Protecting people from elephant attacks, as well as raising people's knowledge and awareness in preserving elephant herds, are equally urgent...

When wild elephants return to the village

The June sun was blazing, the road from the center of Phuc Son commune, Anh Son district to Cao Veu village was filled with dust and smoke. Along the way to the village, Mr. Phan Van Duc - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Phuc Son commune, joked that for a long time, Cao Veu people have determined that their main occupation is planting forests, and planting forests is also to raise elephants. "Most of the people in the area have come face to face with elephants. The story of elephants coming to "visit" fields and camps is a daily occurrence," Mr. Duc said while pointing to a huge pile of elephant dung lying on the edge of the asphalt road and said that a few days ago, a herd of elephants had passed through this area but fortunately did not injure anyone.

In the spacious house of Cao Veu 1 Village Chief Nguyen Van Chau, we heard some rather thrilling stories about elephants. In the past, elephants used to come back to the village 2-3 times a year during the bamboo shoot and sugarcane seasons, but for the past few years, the elephants have been coming back continuously, without any rules. During the day, they are peaceful, but at night, they can come to people's houses to find salt, eat bamboo shoots, and sugarcane. If they encounter people, they are ready to get angry and beat them to death.

Elephant footprints in the village chief's garden.

In mid-April, a herd of elephants came to destroy the raw material forest of the Chau village chief's family, about 100 meters from their house. They then moved to the Ray stream area, trampling to death Mr. Luong Van May (born 1982) in Tam Thai commune, Tuong Duong district, a lumberjack who was fishing in the stream. Before that, on the night of May 27, 2011, while sleeping in a shack in the Bai Coi forest area, Mr. Vi Van Sinh (41 years old) in Luc Da commune, Con Cuong and 2 others discovered a strange noise. Thinking it was buffaloes and cows coming to destroy the shack, Mr. Sinh and everyone else got up to chase them away but were trampled by wild elephants. 2 people escaped, but Mr. Sinh was trampled to death by the elephant.

In Bai Lim hamlet, Cao Veu area, people still remember the "great war" between the elephants and the local people in 2006. At that time, a herd of 5 large elephants suddenly came to the village, knocked down a house and trampled a local's garden. Then, on the way, they destroyed all the sugarcane fields and tea hills along the way. People together beat gongs, clappers, and lit kerosene torches all night to chase the elephants away. In the battle that day, the elephants left, but Mr. Nguyen Huu Than was beaten, broke his ribs and leg, and had to go to the Provincial General Hospital for emergency treatment...

Mrs. Hue and her husband reenacted the scene of Cao Veu people lighting torches to chase elephants at night.

The encounter with wild elephants of the people in Cao Veu area happens all the time. If before, wild elephants only came to Lim beach, Dai slope, Thong Ba hill, Cao Veu 1 hillside, ... now the elephants come to people's houses, walking leisurely on the asphalt road like buffaloes and cows and ready to attack if they encounter people.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue, a worker at Anh Son Forestry, whose house is next to the asphalt road from the center of Phuc Son commune to Cao Veu, pointed to her family's acacia hill and said that a few days ago, a herd of elephants passed by. She and her husband had to wake up, light kerosene torches, and wait silently for them to pass, not daring to chase them away for fear of being attacked. "Every family around here has kerosene torches and bamboo torches in their house to be ready to chase away the elephants. Many families, when they see elephants, have to turn on the lights, start their motorbikes, and use pot lids to knock repeatedly to prevent the elephants from entering their houses," Ms. Hue said.

According to Mr. Phan Van Duc, in the past, elephants were often afraid of light and the sound of gongs and drums, but now they have become much more "hardened" and aggressive. While looking for food, if disturbed by the sound of motorbikes or electric lights, they will be ready to turn around and attack. Many people have been chased by elephants in such situations.

At the end of 2012, on the way to meet voters from Cao Veu village through a long slope, Mr. Duc encountered a herd of elephants. Although he tried to turn on the motorbike lights and rev the engine, the elephants still chased him. “That day, the herd of three elephants rushed straight into my motorbike, forcing me to turn around and run away. If I had been slower, I would have been trampled to death,” Mr. Duc shuddered as he recalled.

What solutions to preserve elephant herds in Nghe An?

Mr. Tran Xuan Cuong - Deputy Director of Pu Mat National Park said that Nghe An has 3 areas currently "zoned" as having elephants (about 13-17 animals): Core zone and buffer zone of Pu Mat National Park, core zone and buffer zone of Pu Huong Nature Reserve, core zone and buffer zone of Pu Hoat special-use forest. In these areas, conflicts between elephants and humans have occurred, causing damage to property, crops and even the lives of people. In Bu village and Kia Na village, Chau Khe commune, Con Cuong district, herds of elephants appeared many times, trampling crops and destroying people's planted forests; In Thin village, Luc Son village in Luc Da commune and the Con Cuong district Forestry area, herds of elephants knocked down signs on both sides of Thac Kem road, destroyed meters of Con Cuong Forestry, knocked over motorbikes and destroyed crops of the villagers; In Thanh Duc commune, Thanh Chuong district, a herd of elephants has come to destroy crops of members of the Youth Volunteer Team No. 2; in Tuong Duong district, a herd of elephants often comes to the forest area of ​​Thach Giam commune.

Pu Mat wild elephants.

Nghe An is considered one of the areas with the best habitat for wild elephants. According to a survey by Pu Mat National Park, 62 species of elephant food have been discovered in Nghe An, including 51 species of forest trees and 11 species of crops. Many forest areas in Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Con Cuong, Tuong Duong, Quy Chau, and Que Phong districts have long been ideal habitats for elephants.

Among the three areas with elephants in Nghe An, Pu Mat National Park is known to have the largest elephant population and is a population with the potential to develop, because of the large herd size (3-5 individuals in Khe Thoi area and 5 individuals in Cao Veu area) and the presence of baby elephants in the herd. Not only does Nghe An have suitable habitats and rich food flora for elephants, but it is also home to a herd of wild elephants that are naturally reproducing. In 2011, in the Bai Lim forest area in Cao Veu area, Phuc Son commune, Anh Son district, people discovered an elephant giving birth and reported it to the authorities.

Although it is considered to have the potential to develop, the wild elephant herd in Nghe An has been rapidly decreasing in recent times due to hunting for ivory or people using mines to kill elephants in revenge. According to the "Report on the assessment of the current status of Asian elephants and human-elephant conflicts in Pu Mat National Park", from 1995 to now, at least 9 elephants have been shot or killed by mines. On the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year in 1996, people in Cao Veu, Phuc Son commune, Anh Son district used mines to kill 3 elephants when they came to destroy crops; a few years later, also near the Cao Veu forest area, authorities discovered 2 male elephants killed for their tusks. Most recently, at the end of 2010, in the border area between Cao Veu and Thanh Chuong district, a male elephant was also killed with its tusks sawed off.

The decline of elephant herds due to humans, in addition to hunting for ivory, is mainly due to elephant-human conflicts in the areas where they live and search for food. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nhan, Director of Pu Mat National Park, said that elephant herds often leave the forest, destroy crops, planted forests and even attack people due to many reasons. The main reason is that the elephants lack food and salt, so they have to go out to find food. The habitat and living environment of elephants have been affected too much by humans. Some forests that were previously where elephants lived and searched for food have now been destroyed, forcing them to go to residential areas to find food and minerals. Another reason is that elephants are very intelligent animals. When teased or killed by humans, the other elephants in the herd will seek revenge, causing conflicts with humans. In addition, physiological reasons can be mentioned, such as during the mating season, these elephant herds lack male elephants or female elephants, making them angry.

That situation, combined with the fact that some officials working in the management, protection and development of biodiversity resources have not been equipped with basic knowledge and skills in elephant conservation, and there have been no scientific research activities to provide a basis for proposing solutions for sustainable development of wild elephant populations; the awareness of local communities where elephants live is limited, and their level of legal understanding is low, so they do not fully understand the importance of elephant conservation. They have not been equipped with knowledge to avoid human-elephant conflicts,... causing the elephant population to decline while conflicts between elephants and humans are increasing.

Faced with the current situation of declining elephant herds and increasing human-elephant conflicts, it is time for the authorities to find solutions to preserve elephant herds and limit the risks to people when attacked by elephants. It is thought that the Elephant Conservation Project that the Government has just approved is an important basis and condition for Nghe An to implement solutions to preserve elephant herds.

Vinh - Khoa