PUBLISHED : 23 Jul 2023 at 06:26
The Nakhon Si Thammarat Administrative Court has ordered the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) to capture and relocate a wild elephant named “Phlai Chao Nga” within 15 days.
The elephant left Tai Rom Yen National Park and damaged the crops of locals in Nop Phi Tham district of Nakhon Si Thammarat.
The ruling was read in court on Friday. It ordered the DNP director-general to carry out the operation to relocate the wild elephant to Khlong Saeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Surat Thani within 15 days and report on progress.
Villager Saksit Aoysawat filed a lawsuit after Phlai Chao Nga wandered into his village in tambon Krung Ching while looking for food in January 2022.
The complaint said the DNP had some measures to prevent the elephant from wandering out of the forest, but they did not work.
The DNP previously ordered its officials at the Protected Area Regional Office 5 (Nakhon Si Thammarat) to capture and relocate the elephant to the park but they had yet to do so.
Even though Phlai Chao Nga has not hurt anyone, the elephant has caused widespread damage to farmland and may pose a danger to locals in the future, villagers say.
About 25 witnesses whose farmlands were damaged by the elephant were called in to testify as well as representatives of the park.
The court then handed its verdict to the DNP to catch the elephant within 15 days, starting from Saturday.
The court ordered the DNP to relocate the elephant to Khlong Saeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Surat Thani instead of Khlong Nga Wildlife Sanctuary in Tai Rom Yen National Park as many villagers said the Khlong Nga Wildlife Sanctuary is too close to their village.
The Surat Thani sanctuary is seen as a better choice because the Elephant Conservation and Management Committee, set up by cabinet last year, designated it as one for troublesome wild elephants.