Villagers living on the fringe of Ang Ruenai wildlife sanctuary in the borders and Chanthaburi and Chachoengsao provinces not to set snare traps to harm intruding elephants after forest officials found and destroyed eight traps in the forest.
Last Thursday, forest rangers and a veterinarian managed to free one elephant caught in a snare trap in Ang Ruenai wildlife sanctuary. The jumbo suffered serious cut in its trunk and was treated with anti-biotics before it was released into the wild.
Mr Decha Nilvichien, chief of the wildlife sanctuary, said on Sunday that there are about 50 elephants foraging for food on the border of the sanctuary and may have intruded into villagers’ farmland.
Because of the huge number of the elephants, he admitted that it was difficult for forest rangers to try to drive his herd deep into the jungle away from the farmland.
Nevertheless, he said officials had been assigned to monitor the herd and, at the same time, other officials were sent to explain to the villagers about what they should do for their safety and the safety of the animals.
Besides telling them not to set snare traps, the park chief said villagers were instructed not to set fire crackers to scare away the animals because they might become excited and hurt the villagers.
