First elephant pregnant in half-wild environment

ĐỒNG NAI – For the first time in Việt Nam, an elephant reared in the half-wild environment in southern Đồng Nai Province has gotten pregnant, according to the provincial Forest Management Department.

Ultrasound results by Thai experts showed that the elephant raised in Vườn Xoài National Park in Biên Hòa Town’s Phước Tân Commune had been pregnant for nine months, the department reported on Monday.

The department said the elephant, one of the Asian wild species, was under special care along with her partner of the same race. 

Forests in the Đồng Nai natural preservation region are presently the living areas of some dozen wild elephants, but in recent years, these elephants have been regularly trying to escape from their terrace areas towards nearby human residential areas in search of food. They have destroyed crops and caused some damage to local households, which in retaliation tried to kill them.

Experts said the fact that the elephant was conceived in a half-wild environment was a good sign for the Asian elephant species, which are now rapidly decreasing in number, and could be preserved in the near future. — VNS