Vets trying to save elephants rescued from Thai cliff

A team of veterinarians was on Sunday trying to save two elephants, rescued from a cliff near a Thai national park where six tuskers fell to their deaths after slipping off a waterfall.

The Department of Natural Parks said in a Facebook post that the veterinarians were examining the condition of elephants that had "symptoms of fatigue" after hours of struggle on a cliff edge of the Haew Narok waterfall, reports Efe news.

The animals were fed so that they gain strength to move and were kept under surveillance of animal rescuers and veterinarians who "continue monitor the situation", the Department said.

The two elephants were in a safe area although they were not yet out of danger, the government agency said.

The elephants got trapped on Saturday, the same day six wild elephants were found dead at the bottom of the gushing waterfall, which has been temporarily closed for the public.

Thailand is estimated to be home to around 3,000 of the total 48,000 Asian elephants in the world. Some 300 of them live in the national park, which is spread over 2,000 sq.km of forest and grassland.

Around 100 years ago, over 300,000 elephants roamed Thailand's forests, according to estimates by EleAid, a British non-profit working for the conservation and welfare of the Asian elephant.IANS