Thailand has begun using a contraceptive vaccine on wild elephants to try to curb the growing problem of contact between human and animal populations. With farm areas spreading into forests, elephants end up expelled from their natural habitat and these contacts become inevitable – and often fatal.
According to the AP news agency, wild elephants killed 30 people and injured 29 last year, according to official data, which also recorded more than 2,000 incidents of elephants damaging crops. According to data from the country’s Wildlife Conservation Office, human-elephant conflict has caused nearly 200 human deaths and more than 100 elephant deaths since 2012.
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Sukhee Boonsang, director of the office, said controlling the wild elephant population has become necessary as the number of elephants living near residential areas increases drastically, increasing the risk of clashes.
The mammal birth rate in Thailand’s five eastern provinces is rising by about 8% a year, compared with 3% in other regions, AFP said. The number of wild elephants in Thailand has risen from 334 in 2015 to nearly 800 last year, with thousands more in captivity.
Veterinarians administered the vaccines using a dart gun without anesthesia, the conservation office said in a statement.
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Asian elephants, Thailand’s national animal, are classified as globally threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
According to authorities, a SpayVac injection given to an elephant generates a contraceptive effect that lasts seven years. Vaccines, which do not change the behavior or physical characteristics of elephants, only regulate their hormone levels to prevent them from becoming pregnant.
