A 22-year-old female elephant in Chiang Mai died today after she was heavily stung by wasps from a nest her mahout tied her beneath.
“Fangmai,” who was also a mother of 2-year-old Kangthong, could not bear the wounds after she was stung over 100 times on her body, trunk, eyes and mouth Thursday. The elephant could not eat and was in miserable pain.
The elephant was sent to Friends of the Asian Elephant for treatment last night, but this morning she collapsed and died.
The wasps’ poisons can be as dangerous as snakes, and Fangmai is believed to be the first recorded elephant to be stung to death in Thailand, according to Veterinarian Preecha Paungkam.
Her baby bull Kangthong survived the incident because he wasn’t chained and managed to run away, MThai reported.
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