Tourist killed by elephants in Kaeng Krachan (1 Viewer)

This is a sobering reminder that visitors to Kaeng Krachan and other national parks need to be mindful of the risks posed by elephants:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ephants-traveling-national-park-Thailand.html

I know nothing about the circumstances surrounding this sad case, but I know from personal experience that the Kaeng Krachan park staff are very keen to ensure that people are off the roads in the Park by dusk.

Also this January, two Spanish birders driving in Khao Yai met a herd of elephants on the road. They switched off the engine, but one male attacked the car and tore the front bumper. No harm for humans, thankfully, just a quick drive to Bangkok and back.

I hope the authorities don't over-respond with banning all access at night or whatever.

However, can any forum member give a short advice how to behave around wild elephants?

Rule One: elephants have right of way.
Rule two: if in doubt, see Rule One.

I've also heard that elephants don't like to be dazzled by lights, and that their reaction to being dazzled is to charge down the beam, so if you are spotlighting and you find an elephant, turn the beam somewhere else pronto.

John

I'm no expert on how to deal with elephant encounters, but I have to have some kind of a plan when visiting Khao Yai and Kaeng Krachan.

In Kaeng Krachan I feel ill-at-ease with the idea of elephant encounters (I have heard but not seen them there), the reason being that you are driving on unsealed roads so a quick get-away would be more difficult, plus the road is narrower so you may only see the massive grey lump when you are very close to it if feeding on the road side. The park staff are VERY clear about the dangers of being on the road after dark.

In Khao Yai the roads are sealed and wider, so you have (a little) more time/options for taking evasive measures if they start to get "frisky", however I have had two uncomfortable incidences where it was clear that John's rules fully applied and I followed them to avoid any risk of altercation.

One thing I would NOT do is turn off the engine of my vehicle as I would not want to be a sitting duck, and I feel that an idling engine is less stressful for most wildlife than starting the engine in their presence.

I have never, thankfully, encountered an elephant when I've been on foot but would be interested to hear what others suggest is the safest course of action to take were I to do so.

My thoughts and some encounters:

(1) Most importantly give them plenty of space, and if there isn't enough space, leave quickly,

(2) have a well thought out exit strategy just incase they come your way because as john says they have right of way!!


My main encounter recently at Khao Yai was very pleasant on the basis the elephants were by a salt lick a good distance from the road just after dark and the road as Dave says provides a quick get away should the elephants decide you are bothering them. Plenty of us tourists had good views without really any signs the Elephants were getting stressed in the short time I was driving through at least. The second encounter I had here was during the day and involved a number of safari trucks crowding the road and blocking other vehicles in and getting very close to the herd. Not good at all so I drove away from it all quickly.


I spent three months monitoring African Elephants in the late 1990s in a part of Zambia where they were subject to bush meat hunting and poaching so were very jumpy. Here a good distance sometimes didn't even stretch to a few hundred metres. As an example one day whilst a couple of us were sat on top of a jeep counting a large herd, with someone in the driver seat, they suddenly turned and charged. Luckily we were a long distance, although the driver did stall in the panic and we were on an unmade track with obstacles. It was mock charging, but the herd was about 200 strong and it was still very scary even though they didn't really come that close, mainly because we didn't have a brilliant exit strategy.

Ive also had one forest trail encounter, something I dread happening - in Danum Valley at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge. Here you have to employ a guide. He was up front and spotted the Elephant first, we were in closed forest (by the closest Great Argus Lek!). I was I think third in line behind him, he ran past all four of us shouting Elephant, and we did the same quickly. Thankfully the Elephant didn't follow. The main rule employed by guides (including rangers ive spoken to else where) seems to be to run as fast as you can back the other way if you encounter an Elephant on a closed forest trail. Don't stop and admire it, get as far away, quickly.

Also be very aware of signs and noises that could indicate them being further down a trail. I exited both trail 6/5 by HQ at Khao Yai and the waterfall trail on consecutive days because I could hear Elephants deeper in the forest and although they may not have been near the trail, I didn't want to take the chance.

If you want to go birding in rainforests with Elephants, there is always going to be a risk element though.

It's very sad what happened to this poor girl at KK.

Another good thought: discretion is the better part of valour!

John

Unfortunately, on narrow forest roads in hilly regions (like both Thai parks and many other places in Asia) elephants may be invisible until extremely close, and it is practically impossible to go off the track. And then it becomes interesting...

Sad - Poor Girl. I will be visiting KK again in a few days - I have been told close calls with elephants there are not uncommon. Apparently a couple of years ago a bull elephant tore through the lower campsite when someone tried to scare it away by flashing a torch at it. I think there was at least one fatality.

I think it partially depends on the relationship established between people and elephants. In Sri Lanka in many places wild elephants are extremely dangerous. One reason seems to be that as farmers have been allowed to encroach into the reserves the elephants see their crops as a new food resource. The farmers shoot the elephants, but they only want to wound them to avoid paying a fine. In areas where this occurs, elephants are apparently far more dangerous than normal

BTW once I was in a Toyota pickup and repeatedly charged by a bull elephant in musth for a good 20 mins and was told by the guide that it doesn't charge the other vehicles - this seemed to be a case where the engine noise inflamed the elephant.

Another time I stumbled into a herd of around 60 elephants spread out near the limpopo. A baby ran in front of my pickup and I nearly hit it - A number of elephants charged me and I reversed like a bat out of hell - the Matriarch just missed hitting my vehicle.

In Chitwan My sister stumbled across a tiger with some guides and they were cautious but not overly concerned, however when they came across some wild elephants they treated it as an emergency

Elephants are not to be trifled with.

A few years ago a woman from NYC and her 1 year old baby was killed by elephants too. It was so sad I believed I helped her pick out a pair of binoculars for the trip but do not know for sure.

GDK said:

Also be very aware of signs and noises that could indicate them being further down a trail. I exited both trail 6/5 by HQ at Khao Yai and the waterfall trail on consecutive days because I could hear Elephants deeper in the forest and although they may not have been near the trail, I didn't want to take the chance.

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same for me last week. On two days there were elephants very close -- I could hear their rumbling and actually see the trees shaking as they fed -- on Trail 6, and I left rather carefully. I'm not really sure if it is better to let the elephants know you are there, or to try and not let them know you're there! All I know is the last thing you want to do is to stumble out onto an elephant in thick jungle -- if you can see it you are already too close!!

One thing I was told by a guide in Africa is if you can zig-zag as you run away, do so. Given their size, once they get started, elephants have a lot of trouble stopping their momentum. Of course on a jungle track, that's usually not possible.

And an elephant is going to know you're there long before you know they're there. While their eyesight and sense of smell are not exceptional, their hearing is.

But the best answer is to give them as much space as possible, especially on a narrow track.

Jeff hopkins said:

One thing I was told by a guide in Africa is if you can zig-zag as you run away, do so. Given their size, once they get started, elephants have a lot of trouble stopping their momentum. Of course on a jungle track, that's usually not possible.

And an elephant is going to know you're there long before you know they're there. While their eyesight and sense of smell are not exceptional, their hearing is.

But the best answer is to give them as much space as possible, especially on a narrow track.

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ha, in my Khao Yai post (which hasn't been put on the thread yet, because I'm still doing the Burma ones) I actually put in about how I had heard to run in zig zags. Personally I don't think that would work -- an angry elephant can move a hell of a lot faster than a running human, and running in zig zags would simply work to decrease the distance you are from the elephant (if you see what I mean). Also, as you say, impossible if you are in the jungle.

When I'm in the forest I'm pretty quiet because I'm always by myself, so no noise except my breathing. I think the elephants would need to smell me before they heard me.

Chlidonias said:

ha, in my Khao Yai post (which hasn't been put on the thread yet, because I'm still doing the Burma ones) I actually put in about how I had heard to run in zig zags. Personally I don't think that would work -- an angry elephant can move a hell of a lot faster than a running human, and running in zig zags would simply work to decrease the distance you are from the elephant (if you see what I mean). Also, as you say, impossible if you are in the jungle.

When I'm in the forest I'm pretty quiet because I'm always by myself, so no noise except my breathing. I think the elephants would need to smell me before they heard me.

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Well, this particular guide grew up in the Okavango (he was a San, I believe) and lived in a small village on the Savannah when he guided me. I figured he knew what he was talking about. However, as I was writing it, my thoughts were the same as yours.

He also told me he found it amazing that Americans live among bears. he thinking was that with African animals there was a specific way to behave if you encountered one that would allow you to survive. With bears, there was no set way. You run...they chase you. You play dead...they still might maul you. You climb a tree...they climb after you. It astounded him that we could live with that.

Fortunately, the only times I've encountered elephants in Asia, I was either watching them from a boat or riding on their shoulders.

Jeff hopkins said:

He also told me he found it amazing that Americans live among bears. he thinking was that with African animals there was a specific way to behave if you encountered one that would allow you to survive. With bears, there was no set way. You run...they chase you. You play dead...they still might maul you. You climb a tree...they climb after you. It astounded him that we could live with that.

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I'm astounded Americans can live with bears. Coming from NZ where about the most dangerous thing is a kea I really can't grasp people going out hiking and camping in areas where there are large numbers of huge carnivores. (I know I do that sort of thing myself in Asia but I'm only visiting and as a tourist I am safe from all harm )

Chlidonias said:

I'm astounded Americans can live with bears. Coming from NZ where about the most dangerous thing is a kea I really can't grasp people going out hiking and camping in areas where there are large numbers of huge carnivores. (I know I do that sort of thing myself in Asia but I'm only visiting and as a tourist I am safe from all harm )

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Well, we're astounded by the number of poisonous snakes that Australians live among, so it's all based on your point of reference, I guess.

That said, NZ is truly a fairly benign sort of place as far as wildlife goes.

Last year at this period there was a group of elephants just after the middle campsite. I even heard one in the morning, from the trail. Same in Kao Yai, in the woods after the watch tower, I could clearly smell one, but I could never see them. In both cases, I just walked away. At these moments, it didn't take me more than some seconds to decide that my fear of being attacked was greater than my (real) desire to take a picture!

In KK, I walked up the trail from the campsite at night, and you could clearly hear them bathing in the 2nd stream after the campsite. In fact you could hear them even before coming to the 1st stream already, as they make a lot of noise. Then I also heard noises near the trail, some meters away, so I quickly changed my mind and walked back to the campsite. I also began to talk alone. Not sure it is the right thing to do, but if only some meters away, they knew I was there anyway, so my idea was to make sure they don't think I'm some predator..

Next day, the guards told everyone to leave the camp, I understand they shot some elephants when they come to close to the camp.

I also have the impression that elephants don't like people to come on their ground, and while they tolerate many people walking along or near the trails, at night even the trails and streams crossing may be THEIR ground? In fact you can find dung 100 meters away from the camp in KK, same thing in Kao Yai, just behind the restaurant or on the road.

gandytron said:

...so you may only see the massive grey lump when you are very close to it if feeding..

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Spot on there...as big as they are, they can be almost invisible in thick forest right up until the point when you're suddenly confronted by them. This has happened to me in Khao Yai. In the forest around Haew Suwat waterfall to be exact...it's quite an experience. Awesome, magical, inspiring etc.. they were among the feelings at the time (it was my 1st wild elephant encounter in Thailand) looking back on it though 10yrs on, i'm fully aware of the potentially very dangerous situation i'd found myself in that day.

Have seen a few more wild elephants in Thailand since then....but none quite as close & unexpected as that one.

Hell I would be afraid to walk or swim in Australia with the amount of dangerous snakes, spiders and jellyfish. I will take Africa anytime.

Mike

MPeoples said:

Hell I would be afraid to walk or swim in Australia with the amount of dangerous snakes, spiders and jellyfish. I will take Africa anytime.

Mike

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And here's an excellent reminder of how many ways there are to die from natural causes down under:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdihHnaOQsk

Cheers
Mike (a different one)