Three elephants were crushed to death under the weight of a huge falling Ta Khian (Hopea Odorata) tree and three others suffered injuries at an elephant shelter in Mae Wang district of Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Mai on Wednesday, according to Thai Elephant Alliance Facebook page.
A freak storm reportedly struck the district yesterday and the winds uprooted the 50m tall tree, which was in the elephants’ shelter, and it landed on six of the eight elephants, which were then in the open field.
Two were killed instantly and the other, known as Joke, sustained fractures to its forehead, shoulders, and legs.
Teams of veterinarians from Lampang’s elephant hospital and Chiang Mai University were rushed to the shelter. They found Joke’s condition was so bad that the animal could not be moved elsewhere and they decided to treat him on the spot, but he died.
Two others were taken to the Lampang’s elephant hospital for treatment, while a third, which sustained minor injuries, because it was only hit by branches, was given first aid treatment at the shelter and placed under observation.