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Elephant attacks increase as farming encroaches on habitat

QUANG NAM — Immediate steps must be taken to prevent further attacks by wild elephants in the central provinces, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has said.

Residents in the central province of Quang Nam are up in arms about the continued destruction of their crops and the deaths of several people who have been killed by the wild animals.

"We must be protected and we have the right to live," said Vo Lich, 75, of theTien Ngoc Commune.

"We can do nothing except use fire, drums and bells to drive the attackers away."

Ministry experts said aggression by the elephants will continue unless preventive measures are developed.

Solutions range from relocating residents to developing new food sources for the animals.

In the last few months, two people have been killed and one seriously injured by elephants.

Numerous houses and large areas of crops have been destroyed, leading to near-starvation for some.

Five years ago, the province’s elephant herd of about 28 co-existed peacefully with local residents.

But between 1997 and 2002, the elephants began to be more aggressive, partly due to the shrinking of their natural habitat.

Clashes between elephants and residents have risen to a record number this year, particularly in the communes of Tien Lanh, Tien Ngoc, Tien Hiep and Que Son in Tien Phuoc District.

On August 2, a wild elephant suddenly attacked and seriously injured a ranger, Le Kim Dat, as he was chasing several forest pillagers in a jungle in Que Son.

Three days later, a four-member herd strayed out of the jungle in the evening and trampled to death 43-year-old farmer Le Thanh Trung in the Tien Ngoc Commune, after completely destroying Trung’s crops and those of nearby families.

And on October 14, 35-year-old Nguyen Thanh Son was killed by an elephant as he was working on his farm.

Experts said the elephants are running out of jungle to live in and reproduce.

Desperate for food and water, the animals wander outside the jungle to find food, but farmers frighten them away with explosives and bells, making the elephants more aggressive.

Ha Cong Tuan, deputy director of the ministry’s Forestry Department, said the elephants attack only when their natural habitats become threatened.

"The jungles in Quang Nam as well as other provinces in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) are their natural habitats.

"However, they’ve shrunk considerably over the last decade because of human encroachment," Tuan said.

For example, in Quang Nam Province, provincial authorities recently allowed local farmers to use 577ha of land to grow pineapples on land considered to be a sanctuary for wild elephants.

"This is why the elephants come and attack the people," Tuan said. "The province has hundreds of households living in the elephants’ sanctuaries."

One solution, to relocate the herds, is too costly because of the difficult topography, he said.

"Any small changes in the environment can adversely impact the elephants’ lives so measures protecting the elephants should be devised immediately."

He recently advised provincial authorities to stop allocating sanctuary land to farmers and halt the use of explosives. Another solution is to resettle residents who live close to the elephants, he said.

Trinh Viet Cuong has worked with Flora and Fauna International to look into the problem in Quang Nam Province, and said the "best method is to protect the local elephants in their habitat."

He said food sources for the elephants must be developed and new policies supporting local residents who live near the elephants must be created.

Viet Nam’s population of wild elephants has dwindled to 111 and is in grave danger of shrinking further.

They are now concentrated along the borders with Laos and Cambodia, particularly in the Tay Nguyen region and in several southern provinces such as Dong Nai and Binh Thuan. — VNS