Humans must learn to live with elephants, say experts

Forest preservation measures and a better understanding of animal behaviour will help find a sustainable solution to the problem of crop destruction by wild elephants, according to wildlife experts.

There have been several reports in the past month of wild elephants encroaching on farmland near the forest, especially in the Eastern Region, destroying crops and sometimes hurting people and damaging personal belongings.

The National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP) said this is because the elephants have been forced to expand their territory as they search for food. And the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) suggests that local people learn to benefit from the presence of elephants and help to preserve the forest to stop conflicts between animals and humans.

Kanjana Nitaya, DNP Wildlife Conservation Office director, said there were about 3,500 to 4,000 elephants roaming the forest of Thailand and the number is increasing due to conservation efforts.

While this was a good sign that wild elephant conservation was successful, Kanjana said that limited food and water sources in the

forest, combined with human encroachment, put the elephants under pressure. This led to them straying into farms to find new sources of food.

“The department acknowledges the growing conflict between the people around the forest and the wild elephants,” she said. “We have worked for quite a while to solve this conflict and to find a way to let elephants sustain themselves, but this task also needs cooperation from the local people.”

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