HÀ TĨNH — Authorities in the central province of Hà Tĩnh have recommended the formation of a project for the urgent protection of elephants in the province’s Vũ Quang National Park.

The Hà Tĩnh People’s Committee sent a proposal to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Việt Nam Administration of Forestry earlier this week recommending urgent measures to protect the elephants in the park from harm by humans.

National parks in the country are all controlled by the ministry and the administration.

According to the proposal, camera traps in the park photographed two herds of elephants several times, each with at least four elephants. Those pictures helped to prove the existence of elephants inside the park’s territory.

Habitats for elephants are narrowing year after year due to construction revamping forest land and the impacts of climate change, the proposal says. The elephants also face dangers from illegal poaching and attacks by angry nearby residents when they leave the jungle to find food.

The committee suggested a project lasting from 2019 to 2025 to implement urgent initial measures for the protection of the elephants as well as to recover their habitat.

Earlier, the national park conducted projects to collect genes of elephants and other species sharing the same habitats. The park has also worked to prevent conflicts between elephants and nearby residents as well as to stop poaching and illegal logging in the area’s elephant habitats.

According to a previous report by the administration, there were 75 to 130 elephants remaining along the border between Laos and Việt Nam. An updated report on the total number of elephants has yet to come.

The main habitat areas of elephants in the country are Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Nam and Đồng Nai. — VNS