Very sad news as Songkran, the youngest elephant of the GVI funded herd in Huay Pakoot, passed away this Thursday (10 January 2013) after ingesting pesticides that were left in the village fields.

On Sunday, 6 January 2013 Songkran ingested a pesticide, paraquat dichloride, that had been left in the field.  GVI staff and volunteers learned about it on Monday when they joined the elephants on a hike.  Sonkran and his mother, Boonjan, were taken to a government run elephant hospital for treatment.  Sonkran was treated by local elephant vets who were unable to help him. Songkran passed away Thursday morning.

Boonjan is being kept at the hospital for observation before she will be allowed to rejoin her herd in Huay Pakoot.

Songkran was the youngest of this 5 elephant herd and dearly loved by GVI staff and volunteers and the local community of Huay Pakoot.  We are all mourning the loss of Song Kran.

In order to move forward with this loss and prevent any more of these horrific accidents to occur GVI staff are asking for donations of funds in memory of Songkran.  Funds will be used to focus training, resources and education to provide for the community on the dangers of these pesticides and for dealing with elephant medical emergencies and elephant management.  We would like to set up a basic clinic to treat elephants in the village, build a loading area so that it is easier to get elephants into trucks for emergency medical trips, and stock up on basic elephant first aid supplies.We will also look into training options to help elephant management become as effective, humane and safe as possible.

We appreciate your help on this.