Confirmed that two elephants have died. Ploythong, over 40 years old, blind in both eyes, and Fa Sai, 16 years old, belong to the Elephant Conservation and Environment Foundation. It is believed that they were swept away by the current and stuck in the water tunnel. Officials are preparing to bury them today.
Ms. Saengduean Chailert, President of the Elephant and Environment Conservation Foundation, posted on Facebook this morning with the following message:
“It was a dark and tragic day for us. The images I saw when we were able to reach the area by rescue boat haunt my heart and I will never forget. We were warned that the flood would come and we moved the elephants in the lowlands to higher ground. But who would have thought that higher ground was not safe when the flood reached the mountain and almost submerged the entire village of Kued Chang. Our animals in the area were floating in the water because the elephants we kept at night were not chained but had dormitories with fences. But the water was th
ree meters high and almost covered the roofs of some dormitories. The strong current swept the blind elephants Mae Ploythong, Mae Mee Boon and many other elephants out of their pens and disappeared before our very eyes. The high and strong current made it difficult to control the situation. Even now, we are still searching for the families of the workers, the elephant herders and the many young children who live in the higher ground on the Kued Chang side of the village. Many of them, we still do not know where they have gone because there is no signal or contact and they are in an area that has never been flooded. Grandma Hongfa, who is in the clinic, is weak and can barely walk because she is receiving IV fluids. It is very difficult to move each old and sick elephant out. The staff worked hard through the three-foot-high water to help the elephants without any equipment or boats, but we tried our best to help remove the elephants that were crushed by the water from the fence. We had to use people to cut th
e elephants out. The elephant barn doors couldn’t be opened because they were covered with mud. Some elephant pens were able to break through the fences. Many elephants are still missing. Many cows and buffaloes are missing. All the dogs and cats are safe, but we moved them to higher ground but there are no cages for them. I would like to thank all the volunteers, rescue units, government agencies, and many elephant camps in the area for sending people and mahouts to help us control the panicked elephants out of the water. I am in the flooded area with the animal rescue team, so I don’t know which agencies have sent people to help, but from what I know from the coordinating staff, there are many agencies, which I will bring the details to thank everyone later. Last night, someone informed me that two elephants had died, which made me very heartbroken and I will bring the details to update you.”
Survey flight finds signs of 3 elephants on the mountain
This morning, 5 Oct. 67 at 06.30 a.m., a helicopter from
Wing 41, Royal Thai Air Force, flew to track elephants that went missing from the floods. During the survey, the infrared camera on the aircraft was able to pick up signals from 3 elephants. One was walking up the mountain, while the other two were motionless. It is believed that these are elephants that officials brought to hide on the mountain. They have obtained coordinates to track them down. Meanwhile, the veterinarian revealed that he will go back and talk to the on-site team to find out which elephants it is and what the total number of elephants that are lost is.
Source: Thai News Agency