DongNai (VNA) – Wild elephantshave been upsetting local people in Dinh Quan district, in the southernprovince of Dong Nai, by destroying their homes and crops, causing seriouseconomic losses.

According to statistics from the district’s forest protection station, forestelephants have visited Thanh Son commune on dozens of occasions, destroyinglarge areas of mango, banana, and cashew nut farms.  
 
A number of guard stations and temporary housingfor local people were also pulled down by the elephants.

Vice head of the station Nguyen Van Chieu said the14 wild elephants were divided into two or three groups with three to eightindividuals each group, often travelling to hamlet 5, Thanh Son commune to findfood and water in ponds and lakes in the area.

Some local residents have coordinated with thestation’s staff to chase away the elephants and protect them from harm by otherless empathetic residents.

In order to prevent conflicts between elephants and local people, theprovincial forest protection department recently built a 50-km electric fencesystem worth 74 billion VND (3.18 million USD) to separate natural forests fromfarming areas.

The department has proposed to build an additional 20km of electric fence toprevent these disruptions. –VNA