Eleven dotty elephants have drowned while examine to save each other after a child elephant sneak from a falls in Khao Yai National Park , Thailand .
Thailand ’s Department of National Parks , Wildlife and Plant Conservation(DNP ) say that the incident came to light in the early hr of Saturday , October 5 when elephants were heard loudly calling at the bottom of the Haew Narok falls , imply " Ravine of Hell " or " Hell ’s Abyss " in Thai .
After arrive on the picture , they discover that a 3 - year - old baby elephant had drowned in the river below . saving teams initially spotted six elephants dead in the water supply after evidently attempting to reach the young calf , according to Mungo Park authority .
A drone resume of the arena later reveal the bodies of five more elephants further downstream , thought to be regard in the same incident .
Meanwhile , two adults were saved by Thai wildlife authorities ( picture below ) after becoming stuck on the cliffside of the water , also attempting to reach the others below . Although they are still suffer from distraint and enervation , the DNPsaid the pair are in good mitt and find veterinarian tending .
" It ’s like losing half your family , " Edwin Wiek , the father of Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand , toldBBC News .
" There ’s nothing you’re able to do , it ’s nature , unfortunately , " he added .
Khao Yai National Parkis part of the UNESCO Dong Phayayen - Khao Yai Forest Complex , home to C of wild Asian elephant , along with many other species admit macaques , gibbons , hedgehog , reticulated pythons , and Chinese water firedrake .
Asiatic elephants ( Elephas maximus ) are list as an endangered metal money on theIUCN Red List . One of the more late estimates , from 2003 , of the world population size advise there are between 41,410 and 52,345 Asiatic elephants left . However , the universe is be intimate to be shrinking and remains extremely fragmented across the Amerind subcontinent and southeasterly Asia .
It ’s very easy to anthropomorphize the behavior of beast , especially in heartwrenching situations such as this . However , elephants are truly emotionally thinking creature that are known to display empathic behavior and evenexpress “ grief”at the exit of a herd mate or family extremity . Researchershave documentedwild elephant , albeit African elephants ( Loxodonta africana ) , mourning dead relatives by quietly stand around their body andclosely inspecting the boneswiththeirtrunks . If scientists are interpreting this behavior aright , it could suggest that elephants are among the few animate being that have some sympathy of death .
