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Elephant found dead after suffering for months with gun shot wound

Video Credit: Newsflare - Duration: 04:22s - Published
Elephant found dead after suffering for months with gun shot wound

Elephant found dead after suffering for months with gun shot wound

An elephant was found dead after suffering months of infection from gunshot wounds before drowning by drinking water which flooded its lungs.

Rangers noticed the lifeless jumbo floating in a shallow pool in a national park in Prachuap Khiri Kahn, western Thailand last Friday (June 12).

They approached the fallen creature to check on him but discovered that he had already been dead for several days, so they contacted the vet team to ascertain the cause of death.

Buddhist monks performed funeral rites for the elephant while police scanned the elephant's decomposing body with a metal detector and found four metal bullets.

They believe the bullets lodged in his flesh caused an infection which made the jumbo weak as it spread to internal organs.

Vets believe the thirsty elephant had suffered for several months before trying to drink from the pool, taking several gulps of water which flooded his lungs with water.

Police are now searching for the owner of the gun, who is suspected of shooting the elephant to prevent them from damaging crops on nearby farmland.

The local village council chief said the route that the elephant was found on is a long path, which makes it hard to identify the exact area where he was shot.

He said: "It is hard for us now to catch the shooter, as the path traverses over three districts and the elephant could have been shot anywhere along the way before it reached here." Police removed the bullets from the elephant's carcass and tried to find the possible owner of the gun that fired them in order to narrow down the investigation.

Police Colonel Chaiyakorn Sriladecho said: "We will examine the bullets and will summon everyone who might own this type of gun.

That will help us to find the elephant killer.

''People who are angry at elephants should report the incident to wildlife officials so measures can be taken to protect the land.

Killing an elephant is a serious crime.'' Thousands of elephants live in the wild in Thailand but there are continuous conflicts with humans when they damage farm land.

Elephants are a protected animal in Thailand and killing them carries a maximum prison term of up to three years and a fine of 1,000 baht (25GBP).


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