Picture of a serow taken at the Dusit Zoo
UPDATE: The worker responsible for beating the animal claims it survived and was released into the forest.
Maybe it’s the combined growth of social media and concern with animal welfare, but 2013 is a year to be remembered as pretty awful for animals.
In a video posted yesterday, one of Thailand’s most endangered animals appears to be beaten to death by an employee at a cement factory in Saraburi.
The animal is a particularly rare species of goat-antelope called a serow.
The video was posted on Facebook by Somkiat Kiewnoi yesterday and publicized by the World Wild Fund of Thailand. In it, a worker chases the frightened serow and inexplicably bashes its head with what looks like a metal pipe until it crumples to the ground.
Several Facebook users identified the factory as belonging to the TPI Cement Co.
The video has been shared among thousands of animal and wildlife welfare activists. In its statement, WWF Thailand said the presence of an endangered species could have been a threat to the operations of the cement factory:
“To run a cement business, the study of its effect to environment and wildlife and methods to relocate the animals in the area have to be done.
If endangered serows are found in a limestone area, it would mean the land is still abundant with natural resources and should not have been granted a concession in the first place.
In case endangered species are found, the factory should educate their workers of the wildlife protection law and the standard measure to relocate those animals.
Serows are one of the endangered wildlife species of Thailand and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated only 1,000 – 1,500 serows live in the wild nature of Thailand.
Serows naturally live on the limestone cliffs. When their source of food is destroyed, they have to come down from the high hills to find food and water which put them at risk of being hunted.
Exploding a limestone hill for cement business permanently destroys serow’s habitat in both direct and indirect ways.
According to the Thailand’s Wild Animals Preservation and Protection Act, the punishment for hurting and harming animals is four years prison and a THB40,000 fine.”
Meanwhile, Animal Activist Alliance (AAA) Thailand released the video on Youtube and demanded the punishment and responsibility from the factory.
A word of caution: the video is quite violent.
Photo: Melanochromis
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