New homes sought for 'overpopulated' wild elephants in Thailand

[webfact]

New homes sought for 'overpopulated' wild elephants
By Coconuts Bangkok


Photo: Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand

BANGKOK: -- Too many wild elephants are creating problems in Thailand’s forests and must be dealt with, a national parks official claimed Tuesday.

Describing the estimated 2,000 wild elephants in Thailand as an overpopulation problem, Suphot Tovichakchaikul of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department said officials were looking for new habitats to relocate the animals, who were leaving the wild in search of food and coming into conflict with human populations.

Human encroachment and diminished wild areas are more direct pressures on elephant populations, but proposed solutions seem focused on moving the elephants. Suphot acknowledged that would be logistically difficult and said other unspecified measures would need to be taken [read more...]

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co//2015/03/12/new-homes-sought-wild-elephants


-- Coconuts Bangkok 2015-03-12

[catterwell]

Solution: More and bigger forests.

[nzexpat]

Stop forest encroachment and reduce traffic through National Parks.

Easy ?

[wirat69]

As the article alludes... this is a man-made problem.... same with the Brazilian Rainforest.... if they had not cut the trees. If only they had given consideration to the issue when the "developments" were "approved"

On the flip side, given earlier TV discussions.... I guess we will see a training school set up for Elephant Football to be known as TEFAL ... Thai Elephant Football Association League.

In a separate Headline, Journal Anglais is reporting that the Junta is preparing legislation for taxing the turnover of the football betting agencies and discontinuing the current lottery, which has been proving difficult to administer. Regulation of ticket prices has been unsuccessful. This follows a recent Thai Visa Weekly question "Will the launch of online lottery sales result in uniform ticket prices and/or end corruption in the ticket sales system?" ... the outturn resulted in odds of 20 cent 'divvy' for $1 invested

[Daniel Ingalls]

Unspecified measures include "Cutting off the Tusks so the predators will leave them alone, No Tusk, no money....go home!

[ezzra]

Laos could be a possibility as it has vast areas of pristine, evergreen forest and not so many elephants

roaming the there... now all it take is a god diplomacy to resolve this issue and it's a win win situation...

[kaorop]

Get more mahats so they can get back to the natural environs of downtown BKK?

Considering 100 years ago there were probably 20,000 wild Elephants, 2000 doesnt seem to many to handle.

How about all those who encroached pay for and work on rejuvenating their natural environment?

Edited March 12, 2015 by kaorop

[NickJ]

I have a big yard I can take one or two....

[Mrjlh]

Some how his numbers just do not add up. Take one park for example, Khao Yai has 1.3 million rai. That's works out to be 650 rai for just one elephant if you were to put all the elephants in the park. Noted: that not all of the park land is usable for elephant access but still how many parks and how many rai available? Doesn't add up.

[metisdead]

Some troll posts have been removed.

[Robby nz]

Some how his numbers just do not add up. Take one park for example, Khao Yai has 1.3 million rai. That's works out to be 650 rai for just one elephant if you were to put all the elephants in the park. Noted: that not all of the park land is usable for elephant access but still how many parks and how many rai available? Doesn't add up.

That's why they are talking about relocating them.

The populations that are there are concentrated in small areas and they have outgrown the forest that is suitable for them and some of them have found easy food by raiding farms.

There are plenty of places they could put some of them but not so easy to relocate an elephant population.

Even if they could they can only take them to where there is a road and not into the more remote locations.

It is also a matter of eco balance, these things eat between 400 and 600 kg of vegetation a day and they don't have any sense of conservation so they can decimate forests to the detriment of other animals that are already there.

[bangon04]

"Too many wild elephants are creating problems in Thailand’s forests and must be dealt with, "

good to see that they start out by blaming the elephants. At least the article goes on to acknowledge that humans might just be a small part of the problem.

Anyway the solution is obvious - elephant steaks for quality Chinese tourists.

[monkey4u]

Cut the testicles off the forest encroachers for a start

Then limit the area people can go in elephant area's, they were there first

Or place a large toll to use the roads through the forests

Most people wont be so keen to go if it costs them

[Toknarok]

Just Google 'Elephants in Thailand' and read the numerous articles there. The difculties facing the Parks and Conservationists in this regard are enormous. There was a thread recently about 'Elephant Walks' and many TV members advocated the banning of elephant shows and similar and returning ALL elephants to the wild.

Much as this might be desirable, practically it is impossible. What remaining forest there is in Thailand is completely inadequate to accomodate these anmals. What can be done with these beasts, it costs a great deal of money to maintain an elephant, you can't put them all into zoos, so I'm afraid we are going to see a continuation of elephant shows, and begging jumbos on the streets, and regretably the cruel methods that are used to train them so that they are safe interreacting with humans.

[Whale]

The Bangkok Post article is a better and more neutral read that the Coconuts article.

Edited March 13, 2015 by Whale

[toybits]

WHAT? Humans encroach on forests, cut down trees, force wildlife to live in a substantially reduced area and then HUMANS declare that there is wildlife OVER POPULATION? Seems to me as a scarcity of logic there. A SERIOUS Lack of Grey Matter in the brains of agency involved.