Trunks Prove Salvation For Elephant Rampage

Trunks prove salvation for villagers fleeing elephants

SURAT THANI: -- Around 20 villagers were left clinging desperately to tree trunks in Thailand's southern province of Surat Thani today after a herd of elephants went on the rampage.

The battle lines between man and beast were drawn early this afternoon, when the head of the Tai Rom Yen National Park led forestry officials and residents of Baan Wangri in tambon Klong Sa to expel a herd of six elephants which had been encroaching on local fields for the past two months.

But the elephants were having none of it.

Frightened and angry, they turned on the villagers, knocking over Mr. Niphon Changrue, a national park official, and repeatedly trampling on him.

Seriously injured, the 44 year-old official was taken to Surat Thani Hospital, where he was said to remain in critical condition.

Having seen the destruction the elephants had caused, it was now the villagers’ turn to be scared.

In desperation, around 20 of the villagers rushed up the nearest tree trunks, where they remained this evening, unable to come down until the herd of elephants went away.

Locals said the elephant that injured the official was a mother with a young calf, making her particularly fierce and reluctant to be moved.

As dusk fell, national park officials were mobilizing forces to rescue the stricken villagers.

--TNA 2005-05-05