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Statistics show that since 2009, at least eight wild elephants died of unknown causes. In the latest case, a wild elephant died on June 5 in Dong Nai province, and people believed that it died because of poison. Do you think that the elephant died because it ate the plants with natural toxic?
Scott Roberton: As far as we know, authorities and agencies examined the site, collected evidences and carried out necessary tests. However, the investigation is still continuing. It is now still early to make conclusion that the elephant died of the poisoning from natural plants.
Can the behavior of elephants and their instincts help them avoid poisonous natural plants?
Leanne Clark: It is not an easy to answer question. There have been many relating factors, while there have been few research works on the impacts of the poisons of plants on plant-eating wild animals.
Many people believe that wild animals, like elephants, can use their sense of smell and taste to detect toxins or poisons, because toxins usually have a bitter taste or different smell, and they are hard to smell. Therefore, wild animals would not eat the plants if they feel something unfamiliar smell, or they only eat a small volume of plants which is not big enough to cause diseases or kill them, and then they do not eat the plants any more as they feel the plants can do harm.
We cannot say for sure that the elephant died because it ate the normal plants they regularly ate. If the plants were poisoned by people, the elephant might have not recognized and it still ate it and died.
Could you please tell us about the elephant conservation status in Vietnam. What are the main reasons behind the death of many elephants recently?
Scott Roberton: The elephants in the wild in Vietnam is facing the risk of eradication nationwide. The fact that many elephants continuously died recently should be seen as the reminder that people have to take responsibility for the endangered status of elephants. With the current speed, elephants would get extinct in 10 more years.
The current laws about animal conservation in Vietnam, as well as the capability, workforce and financial sources are completely powerful enough to ensure the vitality of wild animals in the nature. The thing that Vietnam is still lacking, is the strict implementation of the laws. Vietnam still lacks the clear messages from the State and its leaders about the elimination of crimes, which say that there must not be compromise for the crimes relating to wild animals. This is one of the reasons behind elephants’ death.
What Vietnam can learn from the experiences on elephant preservation in the world?
Scott Roberton: It is true that Vietnam can learn experiences from the preservation of not only elephants, but other endangered animals such as primates, turtles or tigers which are in the danger of going extinct in 10 years. If we do not take actions right now and make changes in the preservation, the wild animals would not exist any more.
The common thing of the countries which have successfully preserved wild animals is the effective implementation of the laws. The number of tigers has been increasing in India’s preservation region because the region is protected well, while rhinos have been rescued in Nepal also because of the strict implementation of the laws.
Tien Phong
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