Fire threatens wild elephant habitat

 | Tue 7 Apr 2020 12:30 ICT

CityNews – 7th April 2020, As Chiang Mai sits at the top of the world pollution charts for its third day in a row now, news has just come out about a fire which has ravaged Doi Mon Jong Wod, an area where traditionally herds of wild elephants roamed.

Doi Mon Jong Wod, in Om Koi District is considered an ‘Unseen’ destination, for its beauty and nature.

Today reports emerged of two fires which took authorities three hours to extinguish, after arriving following a long and arduous journey.

The local people told authorities that there were many herds of wild elephants in the area. It is estimated that 16 rai of land has been burnt and that the fire was started by villagers foraging in the forest.

In a separate report a firefighter was injured on Doi Suthep-Pui mountain range last night after a tree branch fell on him. It took rescue parties an hour to get to him and he is currently stable in hospital.

The governor of Chiang Mai announced yesterday that between the 1st and 6th April there were a total of 18,913 hot spots in Chiang Mai most of them found in Chiang Dao, Om Koi, Mae Chaem, Hod, Phraw, Mae Taeng and Samoeng districts.