Thailand uses contraceptive vaccine to limit wild elephant births

Wildlife authorities and a veterinary team administered the shots to three female elephants in southeastern Trat province on Monday, said Sukhee Boonsang, a director of the Wildlife Conservation Office. The aim was to manage the wild elephant population, he told AFP, adding that the mammal's birth rate in five provinces of eastern Thailand rises about eight percent yearly compared to three percent in other regions. This "will cause more conflict between humans and elephants in the long term if we let it continue", he said.