DongNai (VNA) - Wild elephant habitats in the southern province of  Dong Nai are being reduced and degraded,leading to a lack of food and more conflicts between animals and humans,according to local authorities.

Expertssay the elephant requires a vast habitat but its living space has been shrunkdue to human encroachment into the forest. Local foresters in Dong Nai say thenatural habitat for wild Asian elephants has shrunk from 50,000ha in the 1990sto 34,000ha in 2009.

Overthe past few months, elephants have reportedly been approaching households in DinhQuan district to search for food, destroying their crops and assets.

NguyenVan Khoi, a farmer in Thanh Son commune, said that in one night more than 400banana trees in his two-ha field were completely destroyed by elephants. “Allthe bananas were going to be harvested for sale but now everything is gone,” helamented.

The12 elephants also pulled down cashew trees and destroyed other property, suchas water tanks and water pipes, he added.

Anotherfarmer, Do Van Dinh, from Thanh Son commune, said six wild elephants destroyedall three hectares of his garden, including 1,500 banana trees, 300 peppertrees and 20 jackfruit trees.

Deputyhead of the district’s forest management department, Nguyen Van Chieu, saidwild elephants have been coming out of the forests to seek food since earlyFebruary, destroying crops of about 28 households.

Dryseason

Theelephants, in groups of 12 to 15, often came at night, between 9pm to 3am, hesaid. But they have never threatened people, he added.

Heexplained that the southeastern region had entered the peak of the dry seasonresulting in food shortage in the forest and pushing the elephants to seek foodat the edge of the forest.

Thedepartment is working with residents on measures to prevent the elephants fromdamaging their crops and property by assigning people to stand guard and blow awhistle or set fire to drive them away, Chieu said.

Atthe same time, forest rangers disseminate information to raise local residents’awareness of the need to protect the elephants, asking them not to useexplosives, electric current or other measures harmful to the animals, he said.

Onlysome 100 wild elephants remain in Vietnam, with most living in Dak Lak, DongNai and Nghe An provinces, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment’s Forest Management Department.

TheVietnamese Government has adopted policies aimed at preserving the elephantherd, including a master plan for 2013-2020.

LastDecember, the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) and Vietnamese natureauthorities kicked off an emergency project to protect the biggest herd ofelephants in the country from extinction.

Theproject is being undertaken by WWF Vietnam and the Yok Don National Park in DakLak province, focusing on the enforcement of environmental laws and mitigationof human and elephant conflicts.

TheMinistry of Planning and Investment approved a 74 billion VND (3.28 million USD)budget in 2014 for a project on urgent protection of wild elephants in Dong Naiprovince.

Theproject, implemented in the natural forests of Vinh Cuu, Tan Phu and Dinh Quan districts,focuses on assessing the elephant population, its distribution and movements,while planning the expansion of their habitat to provide sustainable naturalliving conditions.

Itwill also seek ways to avoid conflict between people and elephants and increasecommunication efforts to raise public awareness of the importance of protectingwild elephants.-VNA