Hordes of hungry elephants searching for their next meal have started encroaching on farm land in Myanmar, forcing the residents of one village to seek shelter in tree houses while their homes and rice paddies are trampled by the animals, according to AFP reports.
Families living in Kyat Chuang, a farming town located about 100 kilometers north of Yangon, have had to cobble together new shelters made out of wood and bamboo in the treetops—seeking higher ground to avoid being injured or killed by the onrush of stampeding elephants.
“We have had to move our huts into the trees, so we are safe,” San Lwin, who said that he seeks refuge in a thatch-roofed shelter when the elephants are nearby, told the news agency. He and his fellow residents said that the stampedes started three years ago, and take place several times each week, foretold when the thundering sound of their feet can be heard in the distance.
Myanmar’s population of wild Asian elephants is believed to be among the largest in the region, the World Wildlife Fund told AFP, but experts warn that the country’s rapid rate of deforestation due to logging and commercial agriculture has caused the endangered creatures to become more aggressive in their search for food.
Newly-elected officials will attempt to address the problem
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Myanmar lost nearly one-fifth of its forest cover between 1990 and 2010, and the creatures also face threats for poachers seeking to hunt the creatures for ivory, and those who trap and smuggle them into Thailand for tourism.
Soe Nyunt, vice chairman of the newly-elected National League for Democracy’s Environmental Conservation Committee, told AFP that the group would try to address the problem and “restore the environment in Myanmar that has been ruined for many decades,” but added that it “will not be easy” to do so. The NLD committee will officially take office later on this year, the media outlet said.
Last March, in more pleasant elephant-related news in the area, officials from Myanmar’s forest department confirmed that they had captured a rare, seven-year-old female white elephant in the jungles of the western Ayeyarwaddy region. It was just the ninth creature of its kind to be found and placed in captivity—joining eight others in zoos in Naypyitaw and Yangon.
As reported by the Associated Press at the time, white elephants have long been revered by the citizens of Myanmar. The animals, which are usually pinkish in color, are viewed as symbols of royal power, prosperity, and good luck. Previously discovered white elephants were welcomed in lavish ceremonies in which they were sprinkled with scented water laced with gold, silver, and precious gems, according to the wire service.
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Feature Image: Thinkstock
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