A helicopter from Wing 41 of the Royal Thai Air Force flew to inspect and found signs of three elephants that were lost after flooding at an elephant camp in Mae Taeng District, Chiang Mai Province, on a mountain 1 kilometer from the elephant camp.
This morning (5 Oct. 2014) at 6:30 a.m., a helicopter from Wing 41, Royal Thai Air Force, led by Captain Prathon Jinawat, Commander of Wing 41, took Mr. Phanonphon Thong-ek, Chief Elephant Caretaker of Elephant Nature Park-EPN, Elephant and Environment Conservation Foundation, to follow up on elephants lost in the floods. They were joined by Dr. Warangkana Langkaphin, Dr. Petchtisak Sombatphootorn, and Mr. Ratchapol Ngamkhun, a specialist mass communication expert from the Public Relations Office, Chiang Mai Province.
Capt. Prathorn revealed that the helicopter started flying from the elephant camp in Mae Taeng District, Chiang Mai Province, following the suspicious point where the water level had dropped quite a lot. The elephants had returned to some of their
lives. Cars were able to drive back and forth in the village. But what was worrying was that the water near the elephant camp was quite strong. During the survey, the infrared camera on the aircraft was used to find what appeared to be 3 elephants about 1 kilometer from the elephant camp. It is possible that these were the elephants that were being searched for and that they also found a dead elephant. The foundation must investigate further.
The helicopter’s infrared camera captured three elephants, one walking up the mountain and two remaining still. It is believed that the elephants were hiding on the mountain, and the coordinates were given to the mahout to track them down.
While the veterinarian revealed that he will go back to talk to the on-site team about which elephant it is and whether it is Fa Sai that they are looking for or not, it is still not clear and what the total number of elephants that are lost is.
Source: Thai News Agency