PHUKET: Elephant investigators believe one elephant on Phuket may have come from a suspect source, officials said today.
The animal, a male named Jo-ee, was one of eight checked today at the ATV park on Phuket's Big Buddha Hill.
Owners at the park could not produce documents relating to Jo-ee and it's feared he may have been poached from a national park in Kanchanaburi province.
Another 18 elephants at Siam Safari were checked yesterday by officers from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and found to have all their relevant paperwork.
The officials have returned to Bangkok and plan another visit to Phuket on March 27-28 to check the elephant camp at Laguna Phuket.
Two juvenile elephants - Popeye and Joey - were confiscated from Phuket camps earlier this month under suspicions that they may have been poached from national parks.
When the issue of the poaching of elephants was first raised earlier this year, the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Director-General, Damrong Phidet, alleged that elephant parts were being eaten on Phuket.
Evidence has yet to be produced to support his claim.
The animal, a male named Jo-ee, was one of eight checked today at the ATV park on Phuket's Big Buddha Hill.
Owners at the park could not produce documents relating to Jo-ee and it's feared he may have been poached from a national park in Kanchanaburi province.
Another 18 elephants at Siam Safari were checked yesterday by officers from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and found to have all their relevant paperwork.
The officials have returned to Bangkok and plan another visit to Phuket on March 27-28 to check the elephant camp at Laguna Phuket.
Two juvenile elephants - Popeye and Joey - were confiscated from Phuket camps earlier this month under suspicions that they may have been poached from national parks.
When the issue of the poaching of elephants was first raised earlier this year, the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Director-General, Damrong Phidet, alleged that elephant parts were being eaten on Phuket.
Evidence has yet to be produced to support his claim.
