More dead wild elephants discovered at Thai waterfall; toll at 11
Two elephants became trapped on a small cliff after at least six drowned from tumbling down a waterfall at a Thai national park. (Photo by PANUPONG CHANGCHAI/THAI NEWS PIX/AFP via Getty Images)
BANGKOK - Wildlife officials in Thailand said Tuesday they have discovered the carcasses of five more wild elephants downstream from a waterfall where the bodies of six other elephants were found last weekend.
The carcasses were discovered by a drone being used to investigate how the first six elephants plunged to their deaths at the Haew Narok - Ravine of Hell - waterfall in Khao Yai National Park in northeastern Thailand, said Sompote Maneerat, spokesman for the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.
Park officials said the first group of elephants evidently died when trying to reach a dead calf. The new victims are thought to have come from the same herd.
The ravines usually fill up with gushing water during the rainy season.
Sompote said that the death toll of 11 is the highest number of elephants to die in a single incident in Khao Yai. Eight elephants died at the same waterfall almost 30 years ago.
The elephant population at the park is estimated to be about 300.