This is what happened to about 100 elephants in a zoo that was hit by flash floods in Thailand (video)

Arab Weather - Flash floods swept through the Elephant Nature Park near the city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand on Thursday, resulting in the evacuation of about 100 elephants.

The floods, the most severe since the park's founding, were the result of heavy rains brought by Typhoon Yagi, the strongest cyclone to hit Asia this year.

Elephants evacuated for safety

Videos and photos from inside the park show dozens of elephants wading through belly-deep floodwaters as they try to reach higher ground. The park's founder, Sangdeoyan "Lek" Chailert, said this was the largest evacuation they had ever undertaken to rescue elephants, and that the water level had risen very quickly.

Despite the best efforts of the park staff, known as maots (elephant handlers), some of the animals were unable to evacuate in time. Sangdeoyan said 13 adult elephants were still trapped in their enclosures and were in a state of extreme panic.

Typhoon Yagi's impact on northern Thailand

Northern Thailand has been hit by severe flooding and landslides in recent weeks as a result of heavy rains from Typhoon Yagi, which killed dozens of people when it hit the region in mid-September. As a result of the disaster, local authorities in Chiang Mai have issued flood warnings as the Ping River rises to dangerous levels.

More than 100 elephants, dozens of pigs and several other animals needed rescuing after flash flooding hit Thailand's Chiang Mai province https://t.co/rPwE4OFNRA pic.twitter.com/8EgMPR7CfC

- Reuters (@Reuters) October 4, 2024

Urgent need for volunteers and supplies

In a Facebook post, the park appealed to citizens and volunteers to provide cages for the animals and help transport them to the mountains after roads were completely cut off in both directions. Sangdeoyan noted that about 30 foreign volunteers were also trapped in the reserve, where they had been working for several weeks before the disaster.

The Elephant Nature Park is an elephant rescue and rehabilitation center in northern Thailand. Since its founding in the 1990s, the park has rescued over 200 elephants from the tourism and logging industries. The park offers tours and volunteer programs for visitors who want to observe the animals or help with their conservation.

Many of the park’s elephants are physically disabled or blind, making it difficult for them to escape flooding and complicating evacuation operations. This includes several rescued animals with pre-existing injuries from harsh conditions in the tourism and logging industries.

The park is home to other endangered animals.

In addition to the elephants, the park is home to more than 5,000 rescued animals, including dogs, cats, horses, pigs and rabbits. Some of these animals were evacuated in recent days following flood warnings, but efforts are ongoing to rescue more.

• Elephant numbers decline in Thailand

Elephants are the national animal of Thailand, but they face increasing threats that have led to a dramatic decline in their wild population. Experts estimate that Thailand's wild elephant population has dwindled to just 3,000 to 4,000, down from around 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century.

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