Number of wild elephants in Thailand on the rise

By Pratch Rujivanarom

The Nation

 

 

The number of elephants in the wild in Thailand is increasing by up to 10 per cent, according to the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP).

 

DNP deputy director-general Adisorn Noochdumrong revealed the good news for conservationists on Thai Elephant Day.

 

Adisorn said the number of wild elephant was rising at a rate between 7 to 10 per cent. Areas that had seen the most marked increase in wild elephants were the Western forest in Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary and Eastern forest in Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai forest complex.

 

Full Story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/breakingnews/30308906

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-3-13

Great news If only I could believe it ! there is so much B S hard to know what is truth and what is fibs !

I blame KFC and McDonalds.

Wild elephants. Nar, doesn't have the same ring as "Angry Birds"

13 hours ago, tracker1 said:

Great news If only I could believe it ! there is so much B S hard to know what is truth and what is fibs !

Yes its hard to know if its the truth or a lie.. but it could be true you read a lot about elephant encounters. Though that does not mean there are more it COULD mean that or that there is less food. 

the wild elephant population has fallen drastically over the last 100 years as their habitat has diminished. where is the new space coming to accommodate them? 

21 minutes ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

the wild elephant population has fallen drastically over the last 100 years as their habitat has diminished. where is the new space coming to accommodate them? 

Excellent point. Since wild elephants can only survive in National Parks and the area of non-human habitation has not increased, one would assume if the report is true, then population density is increasing.

 

One potential area for this would be in the large National Parks in Chiang Mai/Lampang/Chiang Rai where a lot of the larger mammals were hunted to very low numbers / extinction decades ago. (Wild elephants do not relocate from forest to forest across tens of kilometres of farmland.)

 

More detailed information would be required to explain this claim. The article does mention Thung Yai Naresuan (Kanjanaburi) and Dong Phaya Yen (Khao Yai - Ta Phraya), areas with already healthy elephant populations and it also mentions "reintroduction" but does not go on to say more about this.

Edited March 14, 20179 yr by Briggsy

45 minutes ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

the wild elephant population has fallen drastically over the last 100 years as their habitat has diminished. where is the new space coming to accommodate them? 

 

There are a significant number of large national parks that provide a safe and lovely habitat for these wild elephants. Kuiburi National Park is a good example. It presently has 237 wild elephants, and the population is growing by an average of 10 elephants a year. There are other success stories. Have spoken to some of the park rangers, and they take their work very seriously, and are very dedicated to the animals. It is nice to see that. They also have alot of deer, herds of wild bulls, a few leopards, and bears. 

Edited March 14, 20179 yr by spidermike007

As a Green peace supporter this is very good news indeed.   Now only if the Thais could get rid of the pink elephants created, or being created, by the current junta's regime all would be well, or at least better.

6 minutes ago, whatawonderfulday said:

As a Green peace supporter this is very good news indeed.   Now only if the Thais could get rid of the pink elephants created, or being created, by the current junta's regime all would be well, or at least better.

I always thought pink elephants were created by too much alcohol. hmmm learn something new everyday.

12 minutes ago, robblok said:

I always thought pink elephants were created by too much alcohol. hmmm learn something new everyday.

A "pink elephant" is something that people are said to see quite often when they're drunk. It's a drunken hallucination. But Urban dictionary has an entry for "The Pink Elephant in the room": it's also a hallucination

National Parks are deserted due to the dual pricing policy.  It's the farangs who deserve credit here by allowing the elephants the breeding space.

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

 

There are a significant number of large national parks that provide a safe and lovely habitat for these wild elephants. Kuiburi National Park is a good example. It presently has 237 wild elephants, and the population is growing by an average of 10 elephants a year. There are other success stories. Have spoken to some of the park rangers, and they take their work very seriously, and are very dedicated to the animals. It is nice to see that. They also have alot of deer, herds of wild bulls, a few leopards, and bears. 

there were 100 000 wild elephants at the turn of the century. the population is almost at the point of being non viable. the domesticated population has declined since the ban of logging, once elephant rides are banned the numbers will plummet as they are not profitable to keep.

17 hours ago, tracker1 said:

Great news If only I could believe it ! there is so much B S hard to know what is truth and what is fibs !

Yes I know what you mean. If you read the Business section of the Bangkok English paper its all up up and away sky high projections. Thailand is getting set to conquer the known world. In the whole section your lucky if you see one downward projection. 

21 hours ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

there were 100 000 wild elephants at the turn of the century. the population is almost at the point of being non viable. the domesticated population has declined since the ban of logging, once elephant rides are banned the numbers will plummet as they are not profitable to keep.

Not true. This is one area where the government is actually doing something progressive and good for the nation. It is all about the national parks. The population in these parks is slowly growing. 

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Not true. This is one area where the government is actually doing something progressive and good for the nation. It is all about the national parks. The population in these parks is slowly growing. 

it is true. wild elephant numbers have dropped over 95% over the last 100 years. not sure what the government is doing. just saying the numbers are rising by a few even if it is true wont make any difference.

On 13/03/2017 at 5:47 PM, snoop1130 said:

Number of wild elephants in Thailand on the rise

 

That's good news....the domesticated elephant soccer / polo team badly needs some subs.