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In response to northern Thailand’s worsening flood crisis, conservation efforts resulted in the relocation of over 100 elephants to elevated areas, local media outlets reported. Meanwhile, sanctuaries were racing against time to rescue numerous other animals still imperiled by the relentless flooding, which continued to pose a significant threat on Friday.
As the flood situation intensified, Saengduean Chailert, director of the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai province, took to social media to sound the alarm. A video posted by Chailert showed panicked elephants splashing through the murky waters, accompanied by a heartfelt request for urgent government intervention.
Dramatic images and footage revealed the extent of the flooding at the Elephant Nature Park, with churning brown water inundating the premises. Meanwhile, teams of staff and volunteers sprang into action, gently carrying dogs swaddled in blankets and utilizing rubber tires to float cages to safety.
The Elephant Nature Park operates under the auspices of the esteemed Save the Elephant Foundation, a leading non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to elephant conservation in Thailand.
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The Save the Elephant Foundation disclosed to AFP that the catastrophic flooding has put a staggering 5,000 animals at risk, including companion animals like dogs and cats, as well as livestock such as cows and pigs, and smaller creatures like rabbits, in addition to the 126 elephants.
The park falls under the remit of the Save the Elephant Foundation, one of Thailand’s biggest elephant conservation NGOs.
One of the foundation’s officers told AFP that aside from 126 elephants, there were around 5,000 animals –- including dogs, cats, cows, pigs and rabbits — stuck in the floods.
Local media reported that more than 100 staff and volunteers were able to safely transport 117 of the elephants to higher ground.
Major inundations have struck parts of northern Thailand as recent heavy downpours caused the Ping River to reach “critical” levels on Thursday, according to the district office.
Thailand’s northern provinces have been hit by large floods since Typhoon Yagi struck the region in early September, with one district reporting its worst inundations in 80 years.
Thai Elephant Alliance says there are around 3,800 captive elephants in the country, and there are more than 4,000 individuals living in the wild, according to the Thailand Environment Institute.
The Asian elephant is classified as endangered by the IUCN, and contact and conflict between humans and the species is common in Thailand.
