(Photo : Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)
CHIANG MAI, THAILAND - JULY 22: Mahouts from the Chai Lai Orchid eat a free lunch provided by their employer on July 22, 2020 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Chai Lai Orchid, an eco-lodge and home for rescued elephants, was able to keep on their mahouts for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic thus far, paying half their normal salary of 12,000 baht ($380USD) per month, and providing them with meals and accomodations on the property.ÊAs the COVID-19 pandemic halted global tourism, elephants and their mahouts (trainers) working in sanctuaries and camps throughout Thailand found themselves out of work. Tourism accounts for 15 percent of Thailand's GDP and Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand usually sees close to 10 million foreign visitors each year, many for elephants, causing businesses in the province to rely heavily on tourists for income. When Thailand went into lockdown in March in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus, elephant sanctuaries and controversial riding camps were forced to close and furlough mahouts until reopening. As income for mahouts evaporated, more than 100 elephants were returned to their home villages in the mountains near Chiang Mai in hopes of finding farmland to support the 200 kilogram of food each adult elephant requires daily. Others, who were lucky enough to remain employed, have taken pay cuts as visitor numbers stay low. Uncertain of when foreign tourism will rebound, mahouts and owners are asking for donations and trying to adapt to "the new normal."
INDIA - After working for at least half a day in order to rescue an animal, forest officials in the southern state of Tamil Nadu shared on Friday that they used a crane to pull out into safety an elephant from a well.
According to the forest officer of the district, Rajkumar, the said elephant strayed into a village that borders a forest in the Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu, which resulted to falling into the well that was covered with bushes, as the said then water source did not have any fence or wall surrounding it for safety purposes.
Rajkumar also described the water source as a deep and narrow well and their office was informed by some individuals in the local area early on Thursday but they were able to retrieve the said animal only late at night, CNN reported.
Rajkumar, one of the forest officers district also shared that they started the rescue operation by clearing the bushes around the well and then tried to pump water out of the well to have a better vision of the area.
But the said idea was not an easy task to do as the elephant attacked the pipes that are pumping the water as part of the animal's defensive reaction to the situation.
He also added that they eventually sedated the animal with the help of doctors and they used a crane in order to lift the animal out of the said water source.
The forest officer also mentioned that after they rescued the elephant, they conducted some tests and observations on the health status of the elephant as part of the animal's health monitoring for three hours, and what they have found is that the animal is healthy and active.
Based on the information recorded by the forest officers, two other elephants have fallen into such wells.
According to NPR, some experts stated that the said incident of animals venturing close to human settlements in India is a result of rapid urbanization, rising village populations, and the destruction of forests in the area.
Based on the information gathered, in recent years, there has been a large number of similar incidents wherein such animals are wandering into human settlements or villages.
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Experts were alarmed by the said numbers because of the fact that these animals are not only exposing themselves to possible accidents like what happened in this case but also they are concerned about the rising numbers of animal attacks on humans in the area and its neighboring districts where rapid urbanization and forest destruction took place.
In 2016, an incident was reported wherein a leopard entered a school grounds in the city of Bangalore wherein the animal mauled three individuals.
Days after the said animal attack incident, a large elephant was reported rumbling through a town in West Bengal state, trampling motorbikes and knocking over walls of small shacks.
Although nobody was hurt during the incident, several damages were reported as officials were forced to tranquilized the said elephant and used a crane just to lift the elephant and return it to the forest, Daily Mail reported.
Just last year, a panicked leopard attacked five individuals in a village in the state of Punjab prompting officials to trap the animal and tranquilized it.
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