LookAtVietnam – Central and local agencies have passed the buck in implementing a project to protect endangered elephants in Dong Nai while the mysterious death of five elephants remains unsolved.

Dong Nai police examined the remains of three elephants found dead in a local forest yard in early July 2009.

The protection project envisaged setting up an elephant reserve in the province, 35 kilometers to the northeast of Ho Chi Minh City.

After almost three years, however, the Dong Nai provincial administration and the agriculture ministry are still at odds over who will fund the project, said To Thanh Buong, deputy director of Dong Nai’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Dong Nai government has said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should put up the money but the latter has rejected the idea, saying the provincial government should come up with the money itself.

The Dong Nai government said it has asked for instructions from the federal government regarding the issue.

The Dong Nai forest management agency reports the province is home to 13–15 elephants.

But the recent mystery deaths of five elephants over the last two months have exacerbated worries that the animals are on the brink of extinction in the province.

In June and July, the five elephants were found dead at Dong Nai’s Vinh Cuu Relics and Nature Reserve and in Dinh Quan District.

Police are still investigating the cause of the deaths.

Pesticides sprayed on mangoes had been suspected as the reason for the animal deaths after forensic pathologists found mango seeds in the animals’ stomachs.

But several forest rangers have said they doubt this was the real reason.

VietNamNet/Thanh Nien/VNA