Rogue Thai tusker captured
A depressed elephant that killed three people after it rampaged through a plantation in Thailand has been captured hiding in dense forest in the country’s northern province of Phrae.
Hundreds of volunteers and police spent a week searching the local area for the 30-40 year-old bull elephant, before a vet managed to approach the beast and anaesthetise it with a drugged dart.
“He is quite a sensitive elephant – working hard in the logging industry might have made him feel unhappy,” Veterinarian Preecha Puangkham told AFP.
“We will find a solution that if possible means he does not have to work,” he added.
The elephant, which worked at a forestry conservation centre, went crazy last week and trampled to death two government workers and a farmer.
The animals are revered in Thai culture, and although death by elephant is not uncommon, it is normally attributed to cruel handling.
No decision has yet been made with regards the rogue elephant’s future, though animals that go beserk are rarely put down. Thailand is home to some 4,200 of the pachyderms.