Pachyderm blocks road in Khao Yai
A bull elephant in rut from Khao Yai National Park apparently searchi0ng for its mate blocked the road in Prachin Buri on Sunday and looked likely to attack tourists’ cars, prompting park officials to use their vehicles as buffers between the aggressive male and tourists until the former eventually retreated into the forest.
Photo credit: Nueng Nakhon Nayok
With a long weekend to celebrate, visitors headed to the national park, which is mainly in Nakhon Ratchasima but also extends to parts of Saraburi, Nakhon Nayok and Prachin Buri provinces, via the Ban Noen Hom checkpoint. As the cars approached the kilometre 17 marker near the Haew Narok Waterfall, they encountered a 20-year-old male elephant – locally known as Yoyo after Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho Gaucho because it has a habit of playfully kicking traffic cones – blocking the path.
Photo credit: Nueng Nakhon Nayok
When the elephant wouldn’t give way and took a sack of rice from a tourist’s truck, the visitors alerted park officials. Although the elephant was apparently stressed and probably in rut, many tourists got out of their vehicles to take photographs and continued to get too close despite warnings from park officials.
As the elephant started to move towards them, the tourists ran back to their cars, reaching safety just in time for parks officials to drive their cars to block the animal.
Photo credit: Nueng Nakhon Nayok
The officials’ attempt to push the elephant back towards the forest saw Yoyo smash the park vehicle’s windshield with its tusk before eventually retreating into forest.
Park officials claimed Yoyo was in search of his former mate, which had been taken by another male elephant named Nga Biang.
