It’s very rare for domesticated elephants to be pregnant, and cases of miscarriage are even more unheard of. Therefore, the incident involving a female elephant named Y Khăm from the Ma Nia community, who experienced a miscarriage with a fetus nearly three years old, is causing quite a stir in Buôn Đôn, Krông Na (Buôn Đôn District, Đắk Lắk)…
The Culprit
The cause of the uproar in this area near the Sêrêpôk River is a male elephant named Păk Plang, belonging to the Y Lít household from the same village. Păk Plang committed a “terrible” act by using his strength to overpower Y Khăm, leading to the miscarriage of this elephant.
After some searching, we finally arrived at Y Lít’s house, located along the road leading to the field typically used for the annual elephant racing festival in the district. Y Lít sighed: “I just returned from the forest, where I prepared medicine for Y Khăm. She was injured on her back by Păk Plang. The Ma Nia family entrusted me with her care and treatment for over ten days now.” “So how did you treat her?” “I brought back medicinal tree bark from the forest, crushed it, and applied it to her back. Now her wound has improved.”
Y Lít recounted that more than ten days ago, he and Y Nghĩa—the son of Mr. Ma Nia—went into the forest to bring the elephants back for tourist rides at the Buôn Đôn Tourist Center when they discovered Y Khăm with multiple painful wounds on her back, alongside Păk Plang. Both men understood what had occurred the previous night. The nearly 50-year-old female elephant was pregnant and had her legs tightly shackled, while the robust 27-year-old male elephant was left free. At night, the male elephant “forced” himself on the female, leading to severe consequences. Many villagers also mentioned that before this incident, Păk Plang had been persistently pursuing Y Khăm during her estrus cycle.
One day after Păk Plang “committed the act,” Y Khăm gave birth prematurely in the forest. The fetus, a male elephant weighing about 60-70 kg, was covered in fine black fur and did not survive. The Ma Nia family brought this issue to a communal meeting to resolve it, demanding compensation equivalent to that of a mature male elephant. Fortunately, Y Khăm survived the miscarriage; otherwise, the situation would have been much more complicated.
Wild Elephants, Owners Bear the Consequences
On the afternoon of January 28, we visited Mr. Y Ka Byă, the brother-in-law of Mr. Ma Nia, in Buôn Trí to inquire further about the situation. Y Ka expressed his frustration regarding the matter: “I’ve told Y Lít many times, but he doesn’t listen or keep an eye on his elephant. Domesticated elephants, especially males, often become agitated when in estrus. When they desire a mate, they don’t care about the female’s age or whether she is pregnant. A pregnant elephant takes four to five years to give birth. It’s incredibly rare for a domesticated elephant to give birth. Wild elephants are no longer allowed to be hunted by the state.”
Y Ka continued: “Our cultural laws are strict. If a domesticated elephant causes damage, the owner is held responsible. Even if two elephants fight and one loses its tail, the owner of the injured elephant is obligated to compensate for it. So naturally, in this case, with one elephant dead, the owner is liable.” However, he softened his tone: “That’s just the way it is, but now we need to negotiate compensation based on mutual agreement; it can’t be handled solely according to traditional laws, but rather according to the actual value of the damages.”
Initially, it was reported that the compensation amount demanded by the Ma Nia family from Y Lít was 50 million VND. However, during the village meeting, everyone agreed that this amount was too high, so it was reduced to 30 million. The village mediation team also suggested that Ma Nia lower the compensation claim.
We visited the Ma Nia household twice but did not meet him. On the second visit, his wife, Mí Nia, was at home. Mí Nia disagreed when she heard many villagers claim that the compensation amount was too high: “Oh, their family (referring to Y Lít) is not poor; they have elephants! They should pay at least one-third of the value of a large elephant. The elephant that died was a male!” The Mí Phương family across the way just sold a male elephant for over 100 million VND.”
By the afternoon of the same day, we encountered Y Lít again, who informed us that the final compensation amount demanded by Ma Nia was 20 million VND, payable in installments over 18 months. However, Y Lít argued that even this amount was too high: “I will only accept 10 million VND.” He reasoned: “That’s just a baby elephant; if it had grown up and became valuable, the owner would have had to invest decades of care and tens of millions of VND in expenses. Therefore, we must deduct these costs from the compensation.”
Rumor has it that the Ma Nia family has signaled that if Y Lít does not agree to the 20 million VND, they will file a complaint with the local authorities for mediation. It seems that this matter is still not being resolved as swiftly as the people of Buôn Đôn had hoped…
