Park rangers and community members have reported the discovery of a dead female wild elephant and a newborn calf in the Preah Roka–Chheb Wildlife Sanctuary, Preah Vihear province, on December 23. The deaths have been attributed to Thai shelling or airstrikes.
Both were found dead in the O’Skach stream. The mother had extensive shrapnel wounds, believed to have been caused by Thai munitions. She miscarried before dying of her wounds, resulting in the death of both mother and baby.
Khvay Atitya, spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, stated that according to preliminary examinations, the adult female elephant weighed approximately 500 kilogrammes, while her calf weighed just 80.
Resin tree tappers reported elephant footprints with blood trails in the same area on December 14.
Rangers from the sanctuary, in cooperation with wildlife researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), investigated the reports, but due to the vast forested area and its proximity to active conflict zones, they were unable to locate the wounded pachyderm.
Preah Vihear province has eight protected natural areas, three of them located along the Cambodia–Thailand border: the Preah Vihear Temple Protected Landscape, the Kulen–Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary and the Preah Roka–Chheb Wildlife Sanctuary. These areas are reportedly suffering destruction of natural resources and biodiversity, including many wildlife species that are vulnerable to extinction, allegedly due to incursions from Thailand.
Until now, it had been ten years since any elephant deaths were recorded in the northern regions of Cambodia, with recent surveys indicating the Kingdom’s protected areas are home to a population of more than 600 Asian elephants.
Asian elephants are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.
