Nakhon Ratchasima: A group of tourism business operators in Wang Nam Khieo district is proposing measures to cope with a rising number of incidents involving wild gaurs wandering about, attacking people and damaging crops.
On Jan 11, a mother and her seven-year-old daughter riding on a motorbike were injured during an encounter with an agitated gaur along Highway No 3052 between Wang Nam Khieo and Pak Chong district.
The animal rammed the motorbike, sending it skidding across the road's surface. The girl was caught on the gaur's horns and carried off into a nearby forest as the bull scurried across the road.
The mother chased after the gaur and rescued her daughter lying injured about 100 metres in the forest. The girl was taken to a nearby hospital before being transferred to a larger hospital in the province.
Members of the Wang Nam Khieo tourism club on Saturday urged state agencies to consider erecting more light poles along the highway to help with visibility. They said there have been multiple incidents involving wild gaurs and motorists at night.
The club also proposed agencies improve areas containing food for gaurs and other animals at the Thap Lan and Khao Yai National Parks to prevent them from leaving the forests.
The population of herbivores at both national parks has been steadily rising, there is no longer enough food for all of them. This explains why a number of animals have started migrating closer to human communities, it said.
"For the sake of the welfare of animals and humans, these responses must be implemented as soon as possible so that they can live peacefully together," it said.
Annop Buanuan, head of the office managing Khao Yai National Park's Khao Phaeng Ma Non-Hunting Area, said the gaur in the recent attack had wandered from Khao Phaeng Ma to find food.
The low-voltage electric fences erected to deter wild gaurs from getting too close to communities failed as the animals' food dwindled during the dry season, said Prawattisat Chantharathep, head of Thap Lan National Park.
Figures from 2019 showed there were about 300 gaurs in Khao Phaeng Ma, and these wild bulls normally grazed on a steep knoll slope, said Phattharaphon Mani-on, a veterinarian with the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
Following 11 recorded incidents involving wild gaurs in the past three years in Wang Nam Khieo district, 22 spots there have been declared high-risk, Mr Annop said.
Motorists must keep their speed below 20 kilometres per hour, he said. However, warning signs are not always visible at night, he said.