Thailand has begun using a birth control vaccine on elephants in the wild to try and curb a growing problem where human and animal populations encroach on each other – an issue in areas where farms spread into forests and elephants are squeezed out of their natural habitat.
The initiative is part of efforts to address confrontations that can turn deadly. As farmers cut down forests to make more farmland, elephants are forced to venture out of their shrinking habitats in search of food.
Last year, wild elephants killed 30 people and injured 29 in Thailand, according to official figures, which also noted more than 2,000 incidents of elephants damaging crops.
Sukhee Boonsang, director of the Wildlife Conservation Office, said that controlling the wild elephant population had become necessary as numbers of elephants living near residential areas rise sharply, increasing the risk of confrontations.
The office obtained 25 doses of a US-made vaccine and conducted a two-year trial on seven domesticated elephants – using up seven doses of the vaccine – which yielded promising results, he said.
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