Six wild elephants went on a rampage in a village in Nghe An Province and destroyed crops on October 10.

The elephants also stormed Phuc Son Commune in 2014 and 2016

According to Nguyen Van Trang, chairman of Phuc Son Commune People's Committee, the elephants went into the village at around 11 pm when it was raining heavily. The elephants destroyed the crops of Phan Van Dai in Bai Da Village.

Upon discovering the elephants, Dai called his neighbours to help chase the elephants away. However, the elephants kept destroying two hectares of acacia and many other trees. Dai said the elephants also stormed the village last October.

The local authorities also arrived to chase the elephants away with drums and fire but the result was ineffective. The elephants only return to the forest at 2 am.

According to the local authorities, the elephants may live in Pu Mat National Park and had gone into the village in 2014 and 2016. They had destroyed many crops in Anh Son and Thanh Chuong districts.

There are about 13 elephants in Pu Mat National Park and they started venturing out to the villages due to decreasing forest land and food.

Talking with VNExpress, Tran Xuan Cuong, director of Pu Mat National Park, said Phuc Son Commune used to have lots of bamboo but they have been replaced with industrial trees recently.

"It's possible that the elephants only returned to their feeding place," he said.

dtinews