Wild Elephant Brought Down Along Highway 48
Koh Kong Province – A third elephant sighting has occurred along Highway 48, in the area of Chi Miel Village, Andoung Tuek Commune, Botum Sakor District.
This latest elephant sighting, however, is not believed to involve the same elephant from the previous sightings. In each of the previous encounters the elephant had been unruly, had obtruded itself onto traffic, and had used its trunk to smash car windows. The male elephant in this latest instance, on the other hand, stood passively by the side of the road, which allowed wayfarers to stop to take pictures. Only then would it make an effort towards them.
Taxi drivers along the stretch of road who witnessed the event stated that from 10:00 am on the 25th of August until 9 am on the 26th of August, 2012, officials from the organization, Wild Alliance, had been monitoring the activity of the elephant for fear that it might bound out on to traffic and create chaos.
They stated that at 9 on the morning of the 26th of August, 2012, Wild Life Alliance officials finally tranquilized the elephant, but that they did not have an easy go of it. Many man hours were required to haul it off to the zoo when the shot elephant unexpectedly lumbered off from the scene before finally collapsing deep inside the forest.
Khmer news from the Koh Santepheap translated by Porky Pig
So why was the Wild Elephant taken a Zoo and not left in the wild….