Five more dead elephants have been spotted in Khao Yai National Park as officials struggle to remove the carcasses of six others that perished in the same area, bringing the total death toll to 11.
Nakhon Nayok governor Natthapong Sirichana yesterday announced the discovery of the five dead elephants at Haew Narok waterfall near the location where six others were found dead on Saturday. A drone flying over the area spotted their bodies in the waterfall, he said.
Officials believed all were from the same herd, but the reason they plunged into the strong current remains unknown.
The gruesome accident is one of the biggest losses to Thailand's wild elephant population in recent memory.
The most recent tragedy of similar scale happened in 1992 when eight elephants drowned as they tried to cross a flooding river. So far, it is estimated that over 25 elephants have died in such a way over the past three decades.
Khao Yai National Park built a 100-metre concrete barrier near the hazardous spot after the 1992 incident.
Khao Yai National Park straddles Saraburi, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Nayok and Prachin Buri provinces. The area where the elephants died is in Pak Phli district of Nakhon Nayok.
Drones are being used to search for two surviving animals that apparently returned to the forest. Park officials and rescuers are hoping to trap the carcasses of the dead elephants in a large net capable of handling up to 40 tonnes.
The dead elephants will be examined for clues to their deaths before burial.
In another development, a 13-year-old wild elephant was shot dead by a plantation owner after straying into a palm oil plantation in Sanam Chai Khet district in Chachoengsao. Tuangporn Sae Tiew, the owner of the farm, insisted he fired in self defence.