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Dak Lak elephants killed by poachers, officials say
  • By Viet Hao | dtinews.vn | August 27, 2012 01:37 PM

The recent death of two more adult wild elephants in Yok Don National Park in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak is suspected to be the work of poachers, said a local official.


Local offical said that the elephants died of attack and not disease. Photo by Nld

Yok Don National Park, located in Ea Bung Commune, Ea Súp District, is one of the largest parks in Vietnam.

Local authorities completed their investigation of the scene and the autopsy on August 26 and concluded that the two elephants, one female and one male, had been dead for about a week.


“It appears the elephants died of attack and not disease. There tusks had also been removed," confirmed Deputy Chief of Ea Sup District’s Police Department, Tran Manh Hieu. “We have an ongoing investigation into the matter.”


A Dtinews reporter witnessed the scene and said that there were numerous deep cuts and lacerations and that one of them had their entire face removed.


Director of the park, Tran Van Thanh, said that they were still waiting for further results from investigation, but it seemed likely that this was a poaching.


“We have recently intensified protection efforts for wild animals but it is difficult to prevent hunters,” he said, adding that they have reported the case to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, asking for further assistance.


According to Nguyen Quoc Lap, head of the park’s Forest Guards Station, the dead elephants were found by local people who were looking for medical herbs in the forest on August 25. Lap added that the animals might have been part of a herd of 30 that arrived from Cambodia in search of food in the forest buffer zone early August.


Dak Lak is said to have more than 140 elephants, the largest single population in the country. Six elephants have been found dead in the province this year.

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