Thailand Elephant Contraception

Thailand has begun using a birth control vaccine on elephants in the wild to try curb a growing problem where human and animal populations encroach on each other. They say the problem has increased as farms spread into forests and elephants, squeezed in their natural habitat, come into contact and clash with humans while searching for food. Official figures say wild elephants killed 30 people last year and injured 29. Thai veterinarians tested the vaccine on seven domesticated elephants over two years before giving shots to three wild elephants in Trat province in late January. The vaccine blocks pregnancy for about seven years.