Beloved wild elephant injured in fight with rival — then came drug-filled bananas
His name is Plai Sarika, a wild male elephant that wanders the forest and defends his territory.
Then, a newcomer arrived.
Another male elephant, named Plai Yak Mina, recently separated from another herd and made his way into Khao Yai National Park, according to an April 7 Facebook post from the Thai Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
On April 6, wildlife officials spotted Plai Sarika near an entrance of the park with a large wound in the front of his trunk, according to the post.
It was severely infected, officials said, oozing puss and emitting a bad smell. Elephant trunks are essential to their survival, so officials quickly called in a veterinary team to take a closer look.
By the time veterinarians found Plai Sarika again, he was near the Derbird Camp campsite in the national park, and officials could get a solid glimpse of the damage done to his trunk.
The severity of the gash and the timing of a new male entering the park suggests Plai Sarika and Plai Yak Mina were involved in a fight over territory and dominance, according to the post.
Though concerning for the health of the elephants, fighting among males is a normal part of the elephant's mating season and male-to-male interactions, officials said.
Plai Sarika needed medical care, but he is still a wild elephant and could be frighted and stressed by interactions with the veterinarians.
So they had to get creative.
Gathering ripe bananas and jackfruit, the veterinary team filled the fruit with antibiotics, allowing Plai Sarika to eat the fruit on his own time and medicate himself without the need for injections, according to the post.
The next day, officials got good news.
Plai Sarika's infection had been severe, officials said in an April 8 Facebook post, meaning it had penetrated the wall of the trunk and entered the nasal passageway.
But in the early morning, trail cameras captured Plai Sarika walking back into the park's forest, and he was described as appearing healthy and generally at ease. He was likely returning to the forest to rest, officials said.
The wound will need to be monitored and possibly treated again, according to the post, but early signs of the antibiotics working against the infection have given officials hope to Plai Sarika's possibility of recovery.
There is still a chance he could fight again with Plai Yak Mina, officials said, but Plai Sarika has shown remarkable resilience and ability to heal.
Khao Yai National Park is in central Thailand, about a 90-mile drive northeast from Bangkok.
Facebook Translate and ChatGPT, an AI chatbot, were used to translate the Facebook posts from the Thai Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
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