in the heart of the villages, the difficult cohabitation between men and wild elephants

In Thailand, men and wild elephants are now engaged in a territorial war. The pachyderms invite themselves into the dwellings where they search for food, sometimes destroying the walls, when they do not charge the inhabitants. Sompong Anureechan is a survivor. He was attacked and trampled by an elephant, and lost consciousness for several minutes. “When I woke up, the elephant was waiting quietly standing looking at me, then he left”, he says. The face to face between man and pachyderms killed around 20 villagers last year.

Much better protected than before, the population ofelephants wilderness increases by 8% per year in the kingdom. Natural spaces are now too small for 3,000 to 4,000 pachyderms from the country. The animals therefore seek to eat elsewhere, especially in agricultural areas. In the struggle for territories, man does not hesitate to kill either. Out of fear, revenge or defending his crops, a dozen ofelephants are killed every year. In an attempt to limit the repeated deaths, an NGO was created six years ago. 200 volunteers are spread all over Thailand. The teams patrol each evening in areas where elephants approach residents.