Clash with human feared as wild elephants look for food
Wild elephants from a national park in the Central Highlands continue to scare farmers living near the area as they have rampaged their fields in search of food.
A herd of around 20 elephants were seen foraging for foods around locals’ fields and tents near Yok Don National Park in Dak Lak Province on August 17-19. Rangers have been positioned to chased them back to the jungle if necessary.
 |
| Elephants leave footprints on a rice field in Dak Lak Province as they look for food outside a jungle. |
The park managers have warned of possible clashes between the elephants and farmers, recommending that the later stay away from their fields for some time.
Around six hectares of corn, rice and sugarcane fields have been damaged.
The elephants are possibly the same herd that showed up on local fields in May, locals said. Forest rangers succeeded in driving them back to the jungle then.
There has never been a more sustainable solution, like expanding their habitat or at least putting an end to deforestation.
Dak Lak is home to the largest wild elephant population in Vietnam, which has fallen from 2,000 individuals in the 1980s to a mere 60 now. Habitat loss and poaching have killed most of the others.
