A local resident finds the skeleton of an elephant in a forest some five kilometres from Chau Phong Commune on February 16
Head of Quy Chau District Forest Ranger Department, Le Xuan Dinh told Dantri/Dtinews on Thursday afternoon that a local resident found the skeleton of an elephant in a forest some five kilometres from Chau Phong Commune the same morning.
"The elephant might have died a month ago," Dinh said. "It was the 70-year-old mother elephant which used to accompany her calf to seek food on farms in the area. They were last seen at a local farm in December last year. We're investigating the cause of her death."
The 70-year-old mother elephant and her calf were seen at a local farm in December 2022
The official said that the two elephants used to belong to a large elephant herd but they'd gradually died from hunting. The two last male elephants in the herd were killed for ivory by hunters some 30 years ago so the herd could not develop.
Nghe An is currently home to around 14-16 wild elephants living in five different herds, according to the provincial forest rangers. Of these, the biggest herd of some eight-nine elephants are living in the Pu Mat National Park.
