Scene of male elephant carcass discovered in Nghe An rubber forest

On the morning of October 8, the People's Committee of Thanh Chuong district held an urgent meeting after discovering the decomposing body of a male elephant in the forest. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Trinh Van Nha - Chairman of the District People's Committee, with the participation of many departments and functional forces in the area.

"Yesterday, despite the heavy rain, many units still crossed the forest and entered the scene where the elephant carcass was discovered to isolate and examine the scene. The meeting this morning was to hear the initial autopsy report and ask for instructions. The meeting will also discuss solutions to handle the wild elephant carcass so as not to affect the environment as well as continue to investigate the cause of the elephant's death," said a leader of the Thanh Chuong District Forest Protection Department.

The carcass of this wild elephant was discovered by rubber workers on the morning of October 7, in a rubber forest in Hanh Lam commune. According to initial assessments, the elephant may have died a week ago, when heavy rain and flooding were occurring in the area. The elephant's tusks, about 35 cm long, were still intact. Through examination, authorities have not found any signs that the elephant was shot. However, at the scene, there were signs of fallen trees and many traces on the ground, indicating that the elephant may have struggled in pain before dying.

According to an officer who specializes in studying and researching wild elephant herds in Nghe An, this is one of two males in a herd of eight elephants that still live in Pu Mat National Park and the buffer zone. The dead elephant was the smaller male in the herd. Perhaps due to conflict and failure with the remaining male elephant in the herd, it recently separated from the herd and moved to the forests in Thanh Chuong district, bordering Pu Mat National Park, to live in solitude.

"This elephant is not too old or weak, but is just a newly mature male elephant, its tusks have only grown in recent years, still short. This one is estimated to be only about 20 years old. After this one dies, there will be only one last male elephant left in Nghe An province," he added. Meanwhile, the average age of Asian elephants is about 60 to 80 years.

According to statistics from Pu Mat National Park, Nghe An has about 13 to 15 wild elephants, the locality with the third largest number of wild elephants in the country (after Dak Lak and Dong Nai provinces). Of these, 11 to 13 live in the Pu Mat National Park area. The remaining 3, including 1 female elephant living alone in the area of ​​2 communes Nam Son, Bac Son of Quy Hop district and 1 baby elephant in Chau Phong commune.

Among the elephant herds, only the herd that usually lives in Cao Veu still has the potential to develop because it has male elephants. 12 years ago, also in this herd, the large male elephant leader with curved tusks was killed by bad guys to steal his tusks. Since then, a female elephant became the leader, this herd became more aggressive, often conflicting with humans. In a short time, 2 people were trampled to death by elephants, many others were injured. Many properties and crops were destroyed by wild elephants.

This is the second elephant in Nghe An to die since the beginning of the year. In mid-February, in Chau Phong commune (Quy Chau district), people also discovered the body of a female elephant in the forest. This was the mother elephant in a herd of only two elephants left, before her death she often returned to residential areas to look for food.

Although there are still many wild elephant herds, most of the elephant herds in Nghe An are isolated and have no potential to develop. Many female elephants have lived alone for decades, often returning to residential areas to destroy crops and conflict with humans. Without measures to merge with other herds, these elephant herds will gradually be eliminated over time.

Tien Hung