Wild elephants have been upsetting local people in Dinh Quan district, in the southern province of Dong Nai, by destroying their homes and crops, causing serious economic losses. 

According to statistics from the district’s forest protection station, forest elephants have visited Thanh Son commune on dozens of occasions, destroying large areas of mango, banana, and cashew nut farms.   

A number of guard stations and temporary housing for local people were also pulled down by the elephants.

Vice head of the station Nguyen Van Chieu said the 14 wild elephants were divided into two or three groups with three to eight individuals each group, often travelling to hamlet 5, Thanh Son commune to find food and water in ponds and lakes in the area. 

Some local residents have coordinated with the station’s staff to chase away the elephants and protect them from harm by other less empathetic residents. 

In order to prevent conflicts between elephants and local people, the provincial forest protection department recently built a 50-km electric fence system worth 74 billion VND (3.18 million USD) to separate natural forests from farming areas. 

The department has proposed to build an additional 20km of electric fence to prevent these disruptions. – VNA