Wild elephants terrorize Vietnam farmers

Wild elephants terrorize Vietnam farmers
Thanh Nien News
October 12, 2006

A group of four wild elephants on Tuesday ravaged a mountainous village of farmers in Vietnam’s central province Quang Nam, reported local authorities. Luckily, no one has been injured or killed, but the elephants – including three mature and a young one – devastated over ten hectares of crops in the 5th village of Tra Doc commune in Bac Tra My district.

The group appeared in the evening, apparently scavenging for food and vegetables, chasing locals around in the process. Wild elephants have appeared in the area in the past, destroying hundreds of hectares of crops and threatening locals.

Police, military servicemen and locals are now taking turns on guard, beating drums and setting fires to intimidate and drive the menacing animals away. But the elephants seem to be growing immune to the threats, even getting more angry and aggressive.

A source from Tuoi Tre said illegal hunters had gathered in the area to kill the elephants for tusks, a practice banned in Vietnam, that could result in imprisonment. Years ago, wild elephants appeared at Tanh Linh forest in Binh Thuan province, 300km from Ho Chi Minh City, killing 10 locals.

Local authorities have endeavored to invite foreign experts to the area to trap and move them to protected forests, but as yet nothing is in place to solve the problem.

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