Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Herd of elephants rescued from muddy bomb crater

Herd of elephants rescued from muddy bomb crater

Eleven wild elephants, including a baby, were rescued from a mud-filled bomb crater in Mondulkiri province on Saturday after languishing in the swampy waters for four days_Keo Sopheak. Mondulkiri Province Environmental Office/AFP
Eleven wild elephants, including a baby, were rescued from a mud-filled bomb crater in Mondulkiri province on Saturday after languishing in the swampy waters for four days. Keo Sopheak/Mondulkiri Province Environmental Office/AFP

Herd of elephants rescued from muddy bomb crater

Eleven wild elephants were rescued on Saturday in Mondulkiri’s Keo Seima protected area after becoming trapped in a former bomb crater without food for four days, though rangers will continue to monitor the herd to ensure it reaccepts one juvenile who was handled by humans during the rescue.

Olly Griffin, a technical advisor with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), said the operation was a “big team effort” between civil society groups, government authorities and local villagers.

“A large part of the credit goes to the local people from the area, who showed concern and compassion for the plight of the elephants,” Griffin said yesterday.

The 3-metre-deep bomb crater had been repurposed as a water storage pond, and Griffin said the elephants may have been seeking water when they became trapped.

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
People gather around a mud-filled crater in the Keo Seima protected area in which 11 wild elephants became trapped five days ago. AKP

Keo Sopheak, director of the province’s environmental department, said the walls of the pit were too steep for the elephants to climb out of, and as the water began to dry, they became mired in the mud.

“After we watered them, some villagers helped cut bamboo leaves for them to eat because they do not have food for four days. We dug out the sides of the pit and placed wood planks for them to walk on,” said Sopheak.

WCS supplied equipment likes ropes and digging tools, which allowed 10 of the 11 elephants to successfully exit on their own.

One young elephant, however, was too weak to leave unassisted. Griffin explained that as the sun began to set and the pit began to fill with rainwater, rescuers made the difficult decision to tie a rope to the young elephant and forcibly pull it out of the pit.

“The mother may abandon the elephant,” Griffin said, noting that the herd may be spooked if the youngster smells like humans.

“It ran off in the same direction as the rest of the herd … We will send some rangers to observe whether or not he is accepted.”

Yan Socheat, one of village rescuers, said locals were aware that there were elephants in the area for about a week, but didn’t realise they were in trouble.

Video footage shows rescuers pulling out the young elephant, who subsequently tramples one of his liberators as he flees. Socheat said the rescuer was stunned, but uninjured.

Additional reporting by Andrew Nachemson

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Ministry orders all schools, public and private, to close for SEA Games

    From April 20 to May 18, all public and private educational institutions will be closed to maintain order and support Cambodia's hosting of the 32nd SEA Games and 12th ASEAN Para Games, said a directive from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Cambodia will host the

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • Almost 9K tourists see equinox sunrise at Angkor Wat

    Nearly 9,000 visitors – including 2,226 international tourists – gathered at Angkor Wat on March 21 to view the spring equinox sunrise, according to a senior official of the Siem Reap provinical tourism department. Ngov Seng Kak, director of the department, said a total of 8,726 people visited Angkor Wat to