The Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary ( th, เขตรักษาพันธุ์สัตว์ป่าเขาอ่างฤๅไน) is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

at the western extremities of the

Cardamom Mountains The Cardamom Mountains ( km, ជួរភ្នំក្រវាញ, ; th, ทิวเขาบรรทัด, ), or the Krâvanh Mountains, is a mountain range in the south west of Cambodia and Eastern Thailand. The majority of the range ...

Chachoengsao Province Chachoengsao ( th, ฉะเชิงเทรา, ) is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (''changwat''), located in eastern Thailand. History ''Chachoengsao'' or ''Paet Riu'' ('eight stripes') is a province in eastern Thailand. It has a ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. Founded in 1977, it is an IUCN Category IV

wildlife sanctuary A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

, with an area of 674,352 rai ~ . South-east of, and connected with, the wildlife sanctuary is the

Khao Sip Ha Chan National Park Khao may refer to: * Khao, Iran ( fa, خاو), a village in Kurdistan Province, Iran * Khao ( th, เขา, pronounced ), the term for 'mountain' in Central and Southern Thailand; see List of mountains in Thailand * Khao ( th, ข้าว, pronoun ...

. South-west of the protection is the

Khao Chamao–Khao Wong National Park Khao Chamao - Khao Wong National Park, is a National Park in Khao Chamao District, Rayong Province in Thailand. The park covers an area of 52,300 rai ~ of forested mountains. North of the national park is the larger Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanc ...

. The sanctuary is partly covered by lowland evergreen forest, along with dry and moist evergreens, mixed deciduous, deciduous

dipterocarp Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 16 genera and about 695 known species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus ''Dipterocarpus'', is derived from Greek (''di'' = two, ''pteron'' = wing and ''karpos'' = fru ...

, as well as grassland.

Human-elephant conflict

The Thai Department of National Parks (DNP) has estimated that in 2008 the elephant population of Khao Ang Rue Nai was just 219 animals. In recent years this number has grown by 9.83 percent per year, meaning that the reserve now has 275 or so elephants. The twenty new animals born every year exceed the death rate. Their expanding population has meant that they travel further afield in search of food. Thus the villages that border the sanctuary are subject to about 25 raids on crops per month. Due to the average crop damage of six rai per year per household, crop damage costs each household nearly 35,000

baht The baht (; th, บาท, ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. Society for Worldw ...

or 19 percent of average household income. Affected households spend an average of 212 nights awake per year guarding their fields. The DNP has resorted to various measures to reduce the conflict, including growing food crops in the forest for the animals. A spokesman for the DNP noted, on behalf of the elephants, that, "We are also encroaching into forest, making it harder for elephants, which already face limited food sources....it is our task not to invade their homes."

Source

Khao Angruenai in Thailand

References

{{Wildlife sanctuaries of Thailand Protected areas established in 1977 Wildlife sanctuaries of Thailand Cardamom Mountains IUCN Category IV 1977 establishments in Thailand