GPS collars help track elephants approaching inhabited areas
Thai PBS World
March 13, 2024
See link
https://www.thaipbsworld.com/gps-collars-help-track-elephants-approaching-inhabited-areas/
for photo.
GPS collars for elephants have proved to be helpful by enabling officials
to know when the animals wander out of national parks and into inhabited
areas,” said a senior National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation
Department official today.
Supagit Vinitpornsawan explained that many people mistakenly believe the
collars prevent elephants from leaving their habitats and entering
agricultural areas to eat crops, but they only provide location monitoring.
The program to fit jumbos with GPS collars began in 2018, raising
expectations that the technology would help prevent the animals from
leaving the national parks.
“The collars help us track their location,” Supagit, who oversees a help
centre for people affected by wildlife encounters, added. “When they wander
into inhabited areas, we know immediately and can send a team to push them
back,” he said.
Furthermore, when the elephants enter people’s plantations and consume
crops, locals were wondering why officials were slow to respond.
“We have a limited number of officials, while the elephants break out of
many areas,” he explained.
The director was giving the interview on Thai National Elephants Day today.
https://www.thaipbsworld.com/gps-collars-help-track-elephants-approaching-inhabited-areas/