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“Fangmai”, a 22-year-old female elephant from Changmai, Thailand, died after wasps stung her more than 100 times on her eyes, mouth, trunk, and body last week.
According to a report by MThai, the wasps came from the nest situated on top of where Fangmai was tied. This made it difficult for her to escape the tragedy.
Kangthong, Fangmai’s bull, survived the ordeal since he wasn’t chained.
The elephant sustained painful wounds and was unable to eat. Eventually, she was treated in Friends of the Asian Elephant.
Howevr, Fangmai succumbed to death on November 20.
Her veterinarian Preecha Paungkam explained that the wasps’ poison can be as potent as the venom of snakes. Paungkam revealed that Fangmai is the first recorded elephant in Thailand that was stung to death by wasps.
Elephant Crushing in Thailand
Elephants play a big part in Thailand’s tourism. Every year, the nation earns a lot of money from tourists who enjoy riding elephants in nature parks, rivers, as well as ordinary streets in the country.
However, beneath the unique experience of riding elephants in Thailand lies a centuries-old ritual that involves domesticating the young elephants in a cruel way.
Phajaan or “the crush”is a ritual done to young elephants to literally “crush their spirits” in order to make them obey their masters.
In this ritual, elephants are taken away from their mothers at a very young age. Their trainers confine them to a very small space like a hole or a cage so that they will be unable to move.
The young elephants then experience the unimaginable: beaten with clubs, pierced with bull-hooks, deprived of sleep and starved for days.
Sangduen “Lek” Chailert, a Chang-Mai-based activitist explained: “The people believe that to control the animal they have to do something to make the elephant feel fear and pain.”
