Thai Buddhist devotees shocked after finding late monk's hoard of prehistoric elephant fossils

Thai Buddhist devotees shocked after finding late monk's hoard of prehistoric elephant fossils

Buddhist devotees were shocked after clearing a late monk's belongings and finding pre-historic fossils from extinct elephants.

The abbot, named Damrong Chotimanto, passed away last Wednesday (January 22) and left his vast antique collection in his room in the temple in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeast Thailand.

The late monk's followers turned up last Thursday (January 30) to clear the building as part of a ritual and they were stunned to find a gruesome collection of rare, pre-historic fossils, which their leader had been hoarding.

Inside his safe there were 23 fossils from Stegodon and Gomphotherium combined and another 17 fossils of ancient Gharial and Barking deer.

Junior monk Sawang Santamano told residents the fossils were donated by a local land developer who gave them to the temple each time he found a new one.

He said: "There's a man who lives nearby who is a millionaire.

He owns a land business and he always gave the fossils he found in his land to the monk Damrong.

"The monk usually took the fossil he received to the Department of Mineral Resources for verification before keeping them in a safe." Village chairman Pichai Pitayapornpipat said the fossils now need to go to the government to be preserved correctly.

He said: "I contacted the officers from the department and asked them to come down and examine the fossils.

"We will discuss the plan to preserve them for educational purposes even if it was against the late monk's wishes.''