The Pu Mat National Park in the central province of Nghe An has just had a meeting with the Fauna & Flora International (FFI) on elephant conservation work in the area.
An elephant is seen at the Pu Mat National Park
According to a report released by FFI at the Tuesday meeting, Vietnam had around 2,000 elephants in 1990, but the figure sharply fell to just 130 in 2013. Elephants were seen in eight provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Nam, Dak Lak, Lam Dong, Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc and Son La.
In 2013, the Vietnamese government carried out a project to preserve and develop wild elephants during the 2013-2020 period in Nghe An and two other provinces
Director of Pu Mat National Park, Tran Xuan Cuong, said that there were some 15-16 elephants in Nghe An Province, including 12-13 in the park and three others at Pu Huong Nature Reserve. One wild elephant was found in 2013 in Anh Son District.
"Since 2014, we have implemented some urgent measures to preserve and develop wild elephants at the national park," Cuong said. "Teams have been set up to raise people's awareness on elephant preservation, local residents have been taught to avoid conflicts with the animals; and facilities have been built to protect elephants."
The official said that the project has helped reduce conflicts between humans and elephants in the area.
"Due to their reduced environment and food shortages, hungry elephants used to leave the forest and enter people's surrounding farms and villages," he explained. "This caused damage and posed a danger to local residents. But the problem now no longer occurs after the project was carried out.
FFI's programmes manager in Vietnam, Hoang Van Lam praised efforts by authorities in Nghe An to protect local elephants.
"We should continue to raise people's awareness on protecting the proper environment for the elephants," he noted.
