Up to 75 elephants at a sanctuary in Ayutthaya province are facing starvation as tourists are no longer visiting and feeding them as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The sanctuary is running short of food after it closed under the government's Emergency Decree to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Itthipan Chaolamai, manager of the Wang Chang Ayutthaya elephant sanctuary, said yesterday the sanctuary has been closed for at least a week to prevent transmissions among visitors.
The closure is causing hardship to the sanctuary itself and the animals. Staff looking after the elephants still have to be paid despite no tourist revenue coming in. This has prevented the sanctuary from being able to adequately feed all 75 elephants as food costs around 50,000 baht per day.
Each elephant eats around 500 baht of fruit every day.