A man’s body has been found crushed to death outside his pineapple storage hut near Khao Ang Ruenai Wildlife sanctuary, in central Thailand.Wild elephants – notorious for coming down the mountain to the village in search of food – are suspected of having dragged the man from his hut and stamping him to death to get access to his pineapples.Police and park officials were informed by a villager that he had heard elephants as they entered the village and then a man shouting in fear. The incident happened on Sunday night.73 year old Ek Homhuan’s body was discovered 20 metres from his small hut, where he decided to sleep to guard his crop against thieves, both human and animal. Police found evidence at the scene which indicated elephants may have pulled Ek from the hut using their trunks.Examination of the body found severe bruising all over and that his skull had been crushed. His body has now been sent to Tha Takiab Hospital for a full autopsy.Reports vary but say that two to three elephants could have been responsible for the attack, but had returned to the sanctuary after feeding.Please credit and share this article with others using this link:https://thethaiger.com/news/national/wild-elephants-drag-elderly-man-from-pineapple-hut-and-trample-him-to-death

The event is a traditional cultural activity of local people to improve the community’s awareness of conservation of home elephants and promoting the traditional cultural values ​​of ethnic people, contributing to promote local tourism. It saw the participation of 10 elephants. A number of traditional rituals were presented to audiences such as wharf offering, elephants’ health offering, performance of hunting and taming wild elephants, elephant marching, elephant race, and elephant football games.Addressing at the event, Vice Chairman of the Dak Lak provincial People’s Committee Vo Van Canh said that the province has the largest elephant population in Vietnam with the number of 43. Annually, the province organizes the festival to demonstrate local ethnic minority people’s skills in hunting and taming wild elephants.The 7th Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival under the theme “The Quintessence of Jungle” is taking place from March 9th to 16th. With famous brand and geographical indication, Buon Ma Thuot coffee has been sold across over 60 countries and territories worldwide, contributing significantly to the country’s total coffee export, which hit nearly 1.9 million tonnes worth over USD3.5 billion in 2018./.Please credit and share this article with others using this link:http://en.dangcongsan.vn/culture/buon-don-elephant-festival-2019-in-dak-lak-province-516104.html

The elephant plays an important and symbolic role in the cultural life of the M’Nong ethnic people. They consider elephants as members of their community. Many M’Nong families use rituals as an opportunity to thank the gods and pray for the health of the elephants. For the local people of the district, elephants are considered their greatest assets and are gifts from the Jade Emperor. A shaman, a respected religious person with profound knowledge of M’Nong customs, goes to families, who have elephants to perform a ceremony to pray for the health and obedience of the animals. The offerings include wine, steamed rice, bottles of water, and pork. The ceremony is also accompanied by a gong performance. This unique ritual typically captures the attention of both local people and tourists during the 7th Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival which is held in Dak Lak province. Girls wearing traditional outfits perform a M’Nong ethnic dance. The local ethnic customs are kept alive in order to preserve the traditions of the ethnic people and to entertain tourists. The Gong performance in particular proves popular among visitors. The elephant plays an important and symbolic role in the cultural life of the M’Nong ethnic…

Dong Nai (VNA) – Forest rangers of Dinh Quan district in the southern province of Dong Nai have been provided with equipment to monitor and drive away wild elephants that have been destroying local households’ crops since the start of this year. The equipment includes a drone, night-vision binoculars, cameras, long-beam lights, hand-held loudspeakers, protective footwear, and raincoats.Nguyen Van Chieu, head of the district’s forest ranger team, said about 14 wild elephants, in groups of two or three, have approached households in Hamlet 5, Thanh Son commune, Dinh Quan district, to search for food, salt, and water. Since early 2019, there have been 11 incidents of elephants intruding upon crop fields of local households, he said, adding that Dong Nai’s forest ranger department has built a 50km electric fence system and is asking for permission to set up another 20km to prevent wild elephants from coming into the area. Experts say the elephant requires a vast habitat, but its living space has been shrunk due to human encroachment into the forest. Local foresters in Dong Nai say the natural habitat for wild Asian elephants has shrunk from 50,000ha in the 1990s to 34,000ha in 2009.Only some 100 wild elephants remain…