Perhaps only in Thailand can an elephant be avoiding a courtroom order for disturbing the peace. After Simple on the lam, a wild elephant has been successfully captured within the Nop Phi Tham district of the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The “elephant arrest” was made to adjust to a court docket order issued to relocate it due to the animal’s steady neighborhood disruption.
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) initiated a complete operation to find and apprehend the wild elephant, named Phlai Chao Nga, on Friday night.
Lending their experience, a pair of captive elephants, owned by local mahout Wiroj Supradit, played an important function in monitoring and extracting Phlai Chao Nga, also known as Phlai Khai Nui, from the forest.
To assist in the search for the renegade wild elephant, infrared drones had been enlisted, supported by Apinan Chaowalit, head of Tha Sala subdistrict administrative organisation. Upon pinpointing Phlai Chao Nga’s location, the team administered a tranquilliser to subdue the problematic pachyderm.
Once sedated, the wild elephant was safely tethered to the two captive elephants and guided out of the forest. The elephant was subsequently transferred to the Protected Areas Regional Office 5 in Nakhon Si Thammarat, which is overseeing the upcoming relocation course of.
The directive for relocation was issued by the Nakhon Si Thammarat Administrative Court on July 21, however it took several weeks to trace down and take into custody the wild elephant. The determination was prompted by the enormous animal’s departure from Tai Rom Yen National Park.
It had wandered into local farming areas and subsequently inflicted significant crop harm on residents. The elephant initially entered tambon Krung Ching looking for sustenance within the wild in January 2022.
Its presence led to multiple complaints from villagers as crops and farmland incurred damage by being trampled and eaten by Phlai Chao Nga. As reported by the DNP, over 100 local livelihoods have been adversely affected by the continual motion of the roaming wild elephant in the region..