KHAO ANG RUE NAI - Elephants loot trucks

WILDLIFE KHAO ANG RUE NAI

Elephants stop, loot trucks on dark road


MANIT SNUBBOON

Chachoengsao _ The chief of Khao Ang Rue Nai wants the road through the wildlife sanctuary closed at night after a herd of elephants held up and looted a string of cargo trucks. About midnight last Saturday a herd of 20 elephants blocked route No.3259 (the Ban Nong Kog-Ban Wang Nam Phon road) holding up 10 trucks, Yoo Senatham said.
They tipped some vehicles on their side, spilling the cargoes on the road so their young could eat, and gorged on sugarcane and tapioca.
''This was not an isolated incident on this road,'' said Yoo Senatham. ''Recently a pregnant deer was hit and killed and last month a pick-up truck hit an elephant.''
These incidents prompted the sanctuary chief to ask provincial governor Arnont Promnart to close the 14.7km route through the park from 9pm to 5am to prevent further danger to travellers and wildlife.
Over the past five years, three people and 14,408 wild animals had died in car accidents on route No.3259, Mr Yoo said. In the same period, a record 1,000 animals were killed in the park by poachers.
Most vehicle accidents happened at night during the dry season, when wild animals crossed the road to nearby Phutai forest in search of water and a salt lick.
About 300,000 vehicles travelled on the road in that period last year.
On Dec 19 the sanctuary office was informed by Sirichai Jitkajorntham, 40, about 8pm that he had hit a big elephant on the road, and injured the animal.
A veterinary team failed to find the elephant, one of an estimated 180 of the animals roaming the sanctuary.
The 643,750 rai sanctuary spills over into five provinces _ Chachoengsao, Chon Buri, Chanthaburi, Sa Kaew and Prachin Buri. It adjoins Khao Soi Dao national park in Chanthaburi, Khao Yai national park and Khao Chamao.

bangkok post

Wild elephants 'rob' trucks of sugar cane, tapioca
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The difficulty of finding food during the dry season has driven a group of wild elephants from Chachoengsao's Khao Ang Rue-Nai Wildlife Sanctuary to resort to snatching sugar cane and tapioca from passing trucks, a local forestry official said Saturday.

This, combined with a record of 14,000 animals being run over each year by vehicles using the 14.7-kilometre stretch - which cuts through the sanctuary where it overlaps the borders of Chachoengsao, Chon Buri, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Prachin Buri provinces - has prompted officers to propose shutting the road at night.

Sanctuary chief Yoo Senatham said that on the night of January 6, a group of nearly 20 elephants blocked a stretch of Route 3259, making it impassable for about 10 trucks that normally use the route to transport sugar cane and tapioca.

The elephants then ate the crops and some also tried to capsize a truck to get access to the food, he said.

A 45-year-old truck driver, Daeng Thongdee, told officials that he had bought tapioca from Sa Kaew and was on the way to deliver it to a Chachoengsao market when he found his truck was the first in a line that faced the elephants' roadblock.

Fearing the elephants heading towards him, he retreated to the trucks behind him. He saw the elephants eating the tapioca from his truck, which was then left with a broken window, a dented body and a torn plastic cover. The elephants fled into roadside jungle.

The Nation

WILDLIFE / KHAO ANG RUE NAI SANCTUARY

Road closing at night to frustrate freebooting elephants


MANIT SNUBBOON
Chachoengsao _ The road through Khao Ang Rue Nai wildlife sanctuary will be closed at night to stop wild elephants stopping and raiding cargo trucks. ''A herd of about 20 elephants frequently blocks the road and holds up cargo trucks until a bundle of sugarcane, tapioca or pineapple is tossed to them as a highway fee,'' Chachoengsao governor Arnont Promnart said yesterday.
Otherwise, the truculent animals would attack and damage the trucks, as happened on Jan 6.
Effective in the next few days, the 14.7km route No. 3259 through the park _ the Ban Nong Kog-Ban Wang Nam Phon road _ will be closed from 9pm to 5am to prevent further danger to travellers and wildlife.
Mr Arnont said the matter was urgent because during the dry season wild animals would cross the road to drink at the Phutai reservoir at night.
The governor acted on sanctuary chief Yoo Senatham's suggestion after the elephants' behaviour became worse, with two herds now involved in the pillaging at night.
Mr Yoo said he feared the elephants would get accustomed to being fed by travellers and that habit would put the animals and travellers at risk.
However, the raids are no longer limited to the night.
''Just today [Thursday], a big male elephant of over 1,000 kilogrammes stood in the middle of the road about 9am. On seeing a motorcycle coming, the animal fearlessly approached it,'' he said.
A special elephant-scaring team has been set up to prevent the elephants being hit by vehicles and attacking people.
The sanctuary foundation, chaired by former army chief Gen Pravit Wongsuwan, has put up roadside warnings and handed out 10,000 leaflets telling travellers to beware and to stop feeding the animals. Over the past five years, three people and 14,408 wild animals have died in car accidents on route No. 3259. The 643,750 rai sanctuary spills into five provinces _ Chachoengsao, Chon Buri, Chanthaburi, Sa Kaew and Prachin Buri.

Bangkok Post