One day in early spring, we had the opportunity to follow Mr. Dang Dinh Viet (43 years old), from Phuc Son commune, Anh Son district and members of his team into the forest to take care of elephants. Mr. Viet is the leader of the Rapid Response Team that helps people prevent conflicts between humans and elephants in Phuc Son commune (also known as the Elephant Conservation Team).
This team consists of 8 members, mainly cadres from Cao Veu, Bai Lim, Bai Da villages, and all of them are very familiar with the mountains and forests. The team was established by Phuc Son commune in December 2018, in which each member is supported with 1 million VND/month. Their job is to patrol, grasp information about the location of the elephant herd to promptly inform people to avoid entering the forest. Every time the elephants come near the village, they have the task of chasing them away. In particular, since 2020, every month they have had to carry salt into the forest to limit the elephants from returning to the village. Each trip carrying salt into the forest usually lasts from 3 to 5 days. It can be understood that this team has the task of protecting the village from wild elephants and protecting wild elephants from humans and other risks.
The herd of elephants that Mr. Viet’s group is responsible for protecting currently has 8 elephants, including 2 male elephants that have just reached adulthood. This is the only herd of elephants in Nghe An that still has the potential to develop. Among them, there are 2 baby elephants that are believed to have been born in the period 2013-2016. Because their habitat is mainly in the forests near Cao Veu villages, this herd of elephants is still called the Cao Veu herd.
Mr. Dang Dinh Lam - Head of Cao Veu 2 village said that, like other elephant herds in Nghe An, this herd was very crowded in the past. Its habitat was quite large, including bamboo forests from Phuc Son commune to Thanh Duc commune (Thanh Chuong), then up to Mon Son commune (Con Cuong). Occasionally, they even moved to Laos. "Previously, the elephant herd was very crowded, elephants and people lived peacefully together. Only people who went to the forest often built huts to sleep in the forest, then at night the elephants often entered the huts to search for salt and food. There were no serious conflicts. Sometimes it also returned to the village, but just need to light a fire or make a gong and it would run away into the forest", Mr. Lam said. Mr. Lam was born in Cao Veu 2 village, attached to the mountains and forests since childhood, and is currently a member of the Wild Elephant Conservation Team.
In 2009, hundreds of hectares of bamboo forests around Cao Veu village were cut down to make way for the Forestry Company to plant rubber trees. The bamboo forests were gone, food sources were becoming scarce, and their habitats were threatened, causing the elephants to become more aggressive. They often returned to the village to cause trouble and look for food.
In March 2011, while going to the forest, Cao Veu people discovered the body of a murdered male elephant lying under a stream bordering Phuc Son and Thanh Duc communes. “This was the leader of the male elephant, it was very large. Its white, curved tusks were very beautiful. After killing the elephant, they sawed off the tusks to the base,” Lam recalled. At this point, the anger of the elephant herd reached its peak. The male elephant died, the oldest female elephant became the leader of the herd. They began to take revenge on humans. Every time they returned to the village, they roared loudly, echoing throughout the mountains and forests.
When people saw the elephants coming, as usual, they lit fires and beat gongs to chase them away. However, instead of running away into the forest like before, the elephants turned to attack people. In May 2011, less than 2 months after the body of the male elephant leader was discovered, Mr. Vi Van Sinh (residing in Luc Da commune, Con Cuong), along with a group of people went to the forest area near Cao Veu 1 village to build a hut and clear land to plant rubber trees for the company. At midnight, while they were sleeping soundly, the ferocious elephants rushed in and trampled the hut. Mr. Sinh was beaten to death on the spot, another person was seriously injured. The remaining group of people fled in all directions.
Not long after that, the herd of elephants, while returning to the village to cause trouble, trampled another person, but this person was lucky to escape death, only suffering a few broken ribs. In April 2013, Mr. Luong Van May (31 years old), residing in Tam Thai commune (Tuong Duong), was working in Khe Ray area, Phuc Son commune, and was also suddenly attacked by a herd of elephants. He ran away but was too late, Mr. May was later trampled by the herd of elephants, dying on the way to the hospital.
To prepare for the trip into the forest to take care of the elephants, many days before, Mr. Dang Dinh Viet and his members had to gather information from people who regularly go into the forest to know where the elephants are foraging. From early morning, they had to be busy preparing the items to bring. Because the trip to the forest was long, these people had quite a lot on their shoulders, from rice, cooking oil, chicken, duck to pots, shovels, machetes... Not to mention, each person had to carry 20 kg of salt in their backpacks to bring into the forest for the elephants.
“This salt is provided by Pu Mat National Park, and the food we bring is our own money to serve the patrol and protect the wild elephants,” said Mr. Viet. The group is always accompanied by an officer from Pu Mat National Park. In addition, when entering the forest, they often have to send their GPS back to the Park to monitor the patrol. The patrols and trips to bring salt into the forest for the elephants usually last from 3 to 5 days. When the weather is bad, they have to leave the forest earlier. Usually, the patrols are carried out at the beginning of the month, depending on the weather.
Starting from Cao Veu, the group traveled by motorbike up to border marker number 443. Then continued along the dirt road, jagged rocks, deep into the core area of Pu Mat National Park. About 1 hour later, after traveling about 20 km, this road was no longer passable by motorbike. As usual, the members had to hide their motorbikes in the bushes and continue the journey on foot. Just like that, we could not remember how many streams and creeks we crossed. Around noon, after walking for about 3 hours, the group leader announced that we were almost there, and stopped to cook and rest.
“Although the journey is difficult, it must be deep in the forest to be effective. The deeper the salt is brought, the less elephants will leave the forest to return to the peaceful village. At that time, both elephants and people are safe,” said Team Leader Dang Dinh Viet.
After eating, the group also divided into small groups. They started digging holes and putting salt for the elephants. The holes were dug far apart, but all were located on the elephants' usual travel route. Each hole was about 50cm deep and 50cm wide. The salt was contained in plastic bags. Before covering them with a thin layer of soil, they used sticks to poke a few holes in the salt bags. "This is so the elephants can smell the salt. Their noses are very sensitive," Viet said with a laugh.
It took almost a half-hour to dig a pit to put salt in for the elephants. The members continued their patrolling, following the footprints of wild elephants. While scouting the way, they often stopped to check the salt pits that had been left on previous trips. The members looked excited after seeing the salt pits that had been turned upside down by the elephants. “Usually, when they smell salt, they turn it upside down. Even when the salt has been left for a long time and has seeped into the soil, they will lick it up and eat the soil,” said a member of the group.
