SURAT THANI: A woman has been charged with violating the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act after two wild elephants were electrocuted by a live wire stretched around her durian plantation to protect her fruit trees.
The plantation is located at Moo 9 village in tambon Khlong Sa in Kanchanadit district, inside the boundary of Tai Rom Yen National Park.
Chaiyaporn Chaiyos, the park chief, went to the plantation with veterinarians and local leaders on Thursday morning to investigate after local residents told them they had seen two dead elephants.
They found the elephants lying dead in the middle of a laterite road alongside the durian plantation. One was about 30-35 years old and the other about 20-25 years.
The first elephant had a deep wound from a burn on its truck. The officials believed it was electrocuted after touching the wire and fell on the ground, and the second elephant died from trying to help its companion.
The authorities found a live electrical wire stretched around the plantation, which belonged to a woman identified as Suwannee.
The woman was charged with violating the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act of 2018, causing the death of the two elephants. If found guilty, she would be liable to up to 10 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine up to 1 million baht.
Mishaps involving elephants have been on the increase in recent years as their population is rising while their habitats are under threat from human activity.
In the past five years, there have been about a half-dozen reports of elephants being electrocuted, either through contact with power lines or electrified fences put up by farmers.
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