Asked what the plan is for dealing with Oyewan, an elephant linked to at least three fatal tramplings, the latest victim a 65 year-old local man thrashed to death by the animal earlier this week, Thailand national parks chief Chaiya Huayhongthong wasn’t quite sure just yet, but told AFP that he and his team will meet Friday and they’ll “probably decide to relocate him or change his behavior.”
The outlet appended a “without elaborating” to the quote, rightly disclaiming any confusion about what the hell that latter option he was supposed to mean, because they sure don’t know either.
Obviously tracking and shooting an ornery bull elephant with a tranq dart, then tying him up, loading him onto a truck, and then driving him to some other sanctuary far away in a less-densely populated region is a challenging job. However unless they want to regularly shoot him with darts filled with lithium or Zoloft and also fill the jungle of his territory with recorded nature sounds more soothing than the natural nature sounds, which wouldn’t be easier or effective, then the relocation would seem to be the only option to deal with the murderous (also endangered and protected) elephant.