Prevention is often the best cure. Thailand has begun injecting its wild elephants with a contraceptive in vaccine form so it can better manage its pachyderm population and solve human-elephant conflicts before they occur.

The elephant is Thailand’s national symbol and is beloved by almost everyone. However, as elephant habitats decline because human population has expanded, the mighty beasts have been increasingly foraging for food in farmers’ fields, consuming their crops and wiping out their annual livelihoods.

A few elephants have even gone viral, captured on video as they suddenly barge into villagers’ kitchens, drawn by the aroma of Thailand’s delicious food, but wrecking houses and scaring residents in the process.

Occasionally, elephants have been killed by electric fences put up by farmers to protect their crops. In rare instances, some have been poisoned.

The problems with elephants are an unintended consequence of Thailand’s successful efforts at protecting its small wild elephant herds. Conservationists say the number of wild elephants has been rising by about 8 percent a year in some regions after decades of trending downward.

Now, Thailand’s Wildlife Conservation Office is trying a new solution. It is providing a contraceptive vaccine to several wild elephants for the first time in late January in the forests in the Eastern Province.

Veterinarians and National Park Officials administered the vaccines using a dart gun without anesthesia, the Office said in a statement. The vaccine was tested on seven captive elephants in Chiang Mai with no side effects. The vaccine regulates hormone levels so female elephants can’t conceive and lasts seven years. No effects on elephant behavior have been observed in those that received the contraception, officials said.

If elephant numbers can be balanced with available habitats, they will hopefully be less likely to invade human spaces in search for food.