KANCHANABURI: Forestry authorities are eyeing a large area of land to accommodate wild elephants, which often stray into communities in Muang district.
The 4,000 rai area is straddled between mountains in the Salakpet wildlife reserve, according to Paithoon Intharabut, the reserve chief.
He said his office was recently alerted to the latest herd of wild elephants, which wandered off the reserve and crossed the Kwai Yai River to forage for food close to Kanchanaburi Rajabhat University.
Mr Paithoon said officials wanted to find out if the elephants were following their usual trail to a source of food or whether they were searching for a new habitat.
Citing research findings, he said that over the past five years, the wild elephant population in the reserve is estimated to have grown to about 300. Of them, around 220 are mature animals.
The Salakpet reserve spans half a million rai which in theory should be big enough for the 300 wild elephants to live in. However, much of the reserve is made up of rugged terrain which is an unsuitable habitat for wild elephants.
The growing elephant population was then forced to look for a new home, causing them to venture further away from the forest, with some ending up on the fringe of a populated area in tambon Nong Bua of Muang district, the reserve chief said.
On Dec 22, Mr Paithoon said local leaders told him that three wild elephants had crossed the Kwai Yai River and were spotted near the Rajabhat institute.
However, the water level rose higher, preventing the elephants from crossing back. Local authorities decided to close a sluice gate to reduce the flow of the river and lower the water level.
By Tuesday, the elephants were able to make it back across the river safely, although they were in the process of being pushed back into the forest. They were currently near Wat Yensanit Thammaram in tambon Lad Ya.
Mr Paithoon said some rogue elephants were responsible for driving away members of the wild herd.
A solution to the stray elephant problem is to designate the 4,000-rai area to keep the animals away from communities.
The area, according to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, is located in the Nong Jaeng forest adjacent to the Salakpet reserve.
The mountain-straddling land will make it easy to control the movement of the wild elephants. The location will also have water and food sources available and secure fences in certain areas.
Mr Paithoon said the project could also be developed into a tourist attraction managed jointly with residents who will gain commercially from tourism.
According to a survey by the Wildlife Conservation Office, in Thailand, there are between 4,013 and 4,422 wild elephants which were responsible for 13,055 incidents of roaming this year. In total, 21 people have been killed by or as a result of stray wild elephants.