A day after a mother elephant was heard crying for its calves, people in a community east of Bangkok found not one but two dead young elephants in the nearby wetlands.
Questions are now being raised if the animals were poisoned after strong pesticides were found around their corpses, and an animal group is calling for an investigation.
Thailand Animal Rights Alliance said the tall, wild grasses around where the two bodies were bleached and dead from pesticides that farmers would not normally use. The first body was discovered Tuesday evening and the second on Wednesday in Chachoengsao province– both were about 1.
The cause of their deaths remains to be determined. An autopsy conducted by national parks veterinarians found a bullet inside the first baby, but they did not believe that’s what killed it.
They said the pesticides were comprised of carbamates, which are a highly toxic nerve agent in mammals. The second body was discovered in a position suggesting a painful death.
Officials believe both elephants died around the same time.
The alliance said people are concerned about the other 10 elephants in the herd and has asked the authorities to work transparently to protect them and investigate the deaths.
