Animals in Thailand’s private parks at risk of hunger as coronavirus pandemic keeps tourists away

The Covid-19 outbreak has led to the temporary closure of recreational sites in Thailand and a sharp fall in visitor numbers

This is a serious setback as the parks rely on tourists who come to ride on elephants, take selfies with tigers, interact with animals and watch live shows

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Elephants rescued from the tourism and logging trade are fed at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The coronavirus outbreak has hit the country’s tourism sector, with about 90 per cent of elephant camps in the province closed as business drops, leading to fears about how to feed the animals. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:00am, 2 Apr 2020Updated: 4:12am, 9 Apr 2020

Every year during Thailand’s Songkran festival, about 75 elephants at Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal entertain visitors by scooping up water with their trunks and splashing it on the crowds as part of the water fight the celebration is known for. The camp also draws tourists all year round for its elephant rides around the ruins of the old city of Ayutthaya.

But this year, the elephants will be foraging for food in fields near the Unesco World Heritage Site as the Thai New Year festival has been postponed and the coronavirus outbreak keeps tourists away.

Itthipan Kaolamai, the camp manager, said they shut before the government imposed an emergency decree on March 26 to close recreational sites, as visitor numbers had already dropped.

Tourists look at elephants at a park in the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai. Photo: AFP

“We can only pay our staff their full salary for March but we will pay for half for April,” Itthipan said.

The Thai government said this week tourists from China, South Korea and Hong Kong were down by 84.9, 72.6 and 54.8 per cent respectively in February compared to last February.