Human Interest

Thailand issues arrest warrant for elephant that killed man

Bangkok, March 17 (EFE).- Thai authorities issued an arrest warrant for a wild elephant, which caused the death of a neighbor in February in Prachinburi province, 150 kilometers east of Bangkok.

The animal, 25, and known as Sidor Noke, remains “loose” in a farming area where “if it continues looking for food could attack other people again,” said Amnaj Muangpang, provincial National Parks Department director.

Sidor Nore attacked and killed a 73-year-old neighbor who was collecting vegetables on Feb. 24 and wild fruit, according to local media.

To avoid another tragic incident, authorities issued the arrest warrant Tuesday and scheduled an operation, whose date has not yet been set, to catch the elephant “soon” and in which veterinarians will also participate to sedate the mammal.

Once the pachyderm is captured, a tracking device will be placed on it and “it will be sent to the Khao Ang Rue Nai sanctuary,” a protected area of ​​about 1,000 square kilometers in the east of the country, Amnaj said.

In recent years there have been numerous invasions of crops by wild elephants and sometimes attacks on people.

According to some animal protection groups, some 3,000 wild elephants currently live in Thailand’s forests threatened by increasing deforestation, compared to the 300,000 that populated the country more than a century ago. EFE

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