Death of two elephants during translocation in Vietnam and plight of elephants in Thailand; Anti poaching enforcement urged Nepal's TigerAid

[Guest guest]

New Straits Times - Nov 20th, 2001.

 

Vietnam - Two wild elephants in Vietnam, believed to be responsible for tramping

12 villagers to death over the past few years died when a team of experts from

Malaysia and Vietnam tried to relocate them using tranquillizer darts.

 

Vietnamese television quoted the head of the Malaysian team as saying one of

the tranquillised elephants ran amok when it was awakened by people

photographing and filming the scene.

 

It later fell over a tree stump and suffocated to death. The other elephant,

which had also run off into the jungle, is said to have died of unknown reasons.

Vietnam has 86 elephants left in the wild compared with about 500 in the early

1980s. Their elephants suffered first at the hands of ivory poachers, then from

encroachment on their habitats by farmers and loggers.

 

Nepal - TIGERAID called upon Nepal Government officials recently to increase

anti-poaching enforcement after Nepali wildlife officials shot and killed a

Bengal tiger recently.

 

The tiger, suspect of killing seven villagers in late October near the Royal

Chitwan National Park, revealed by post mortem that it had been wounded with a

bullet injury at least two months earlier on its right thigh. Wildlife

officials stated that they believed the tiger was wounded by illegal hunters.

 

" The tragic loss of innocent villagers could have been prevented if Nepali

wildlife officials had in place better anit-poaching measures, " stated

TigerAid's executive director Richard Birchard. " The tiger is a very elusive

animals. You don't just happen to go into a nature preserve and spot them. It

takes a good amount of time. This incident indicates that poachers have easy

access, resources and sufficient time to hunt down a tiger, " he said.

 

Plight of Elephants in Thailand - The Star 11th Dec. 2001

 

Late at night on a busy Bangkok street, a terrified female elephant roars in

pain. Injured after being hit by a bus, the 22 year old elephant lurches by the

roadside. Her panicked handler, struggling to calm her, shouts for help.

 

A vet rushes to the scene to look after the injured animal. Alongkorn, a vet in

Thailand's Royal Bureau, says road accidents are common for elephants brought

into the city by their handlers in search of food and money.

 

" This sort of thing is not a surprise. It happens all the time. I've seen many

elephants hit by cars or with their legs stuck in big potholes here, " he said.

Alongkorn said that in June alone he treated 20 elephants in Bangkok for illness

or injury. He says 15 elephants have been injured in road accidents so far this

year, compared with around 20 last year.

 

Experts say an estimated 2 500 wild elephants still roam the Thai jungles while

another 2 000 are registered as tame or domesticated animals. Many are owned by

impoverished handlers who, when times are hard, bring them into the capital,

with its notorious pollution and traffic congestion. There the noble animals

become beggars. " It is so sad to see elephants begging for food, " Alongkorn

says.

 

" At home, we have no work, no money. If we don't come here, we will surely

starve, " explains Pong Malingam, who left his children behind in north-eastern

Surin province to come to Bangkok with his wife and his only asset - a bull

elephant called Buaban. " At least my elephant will have something to eat, " he

adds. Pong says life in the Thai capital is not easy, especially for large

animals trying to negotiate the busy streets. " We don't want to torture our

animals doing this...they are not worth one or two baht each but over 300 000

baht. But we just have no choice, " he says. Pong and other mahouts make a

living in Bangkok by selling 20-baht bunches of bananas and vegetables to

passers-by to feed the animals. Pong has other money spinning hopes for his

elephant, a young and strong bull: breeding. " We don't have many elephants left

at the moment. My elephants can mate with about 40 to 50 cows a year, and more

than half of these matings will be successful, " he adds.

 

Pong says he will receive about 10 000 baht for allowing his bull to mate with a

cow, but only when a baby is born, which takes well over a year. But many

owners of tame elephants do not want their cows to breed - mothers cannot work

while nursing. Most domesticated elephants are caught in the wild, rather than

bred in captivity.

 

Mahouts say they earn about 200 to 400 baht a day by selling elephant foods, but

much of this has to be spend paying off police. Officially, elephants are

banned from the city. In the heart of Bangkok, mahouts sleep in small tents,

and work from early evening until after 2am when nightlife in the city begins to

wind down. They have a harsh life here. Elephant handlers say they want the

government to help provide longer-term work for them. Soraida Salwala,

secretary-general of Friends of the Asian Elephant, says serious measures need

to be taken.

 

" I've urged the government to take serious, pro-active action on this. They

have been discussing this for years but nothing has improved. Mahouts don't want

to go back home as they can make good money here. I don't believe they don't

have any if they can buy an elephant worth as much as 300 000 baht, " says

Soraida.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Straits Times - Nov 20th, 2001.

 

Vietnam - Two wild elephants in Vietnam, believed to be responsible for tramping

12 villagers to death over the past few years sdied when a team of experts from

Malaysia and Vietnam tried to relocate them using tranquillizer darts.

 

Vietnamese television quoted the head of the Malaysian team as saying one of

the tranquillised elephants ran amok when it was awakened by people

photographing and filming the scene.

 

It later fell over a tree stump and suffocated to death. The other elephant,

which had also run off into the jungle, is said to have died of unknown reasons.

Vietnam has 86 elephants left in the wild compared with about 500 in the early

1980s. Their elephants suffered first at the hands of ivory poachers, then from

encroachment on their habitats by farmers and loggers.

 

 

 

Nepal - TIGERAID called upon Nepal Government officials recently to increase

anti-poaching enforcement after Nepali wildlife officials shot and killed a

Bengal tiger recently.

 

The tiger, suspect of killing seven villagers in late October near the Royal

Chitwan National Park, revealed by post mortem that it had been wounded with a

bullet injury at least two months earlier on its right thigh. Wildlife

officials stated that they believed the tiger was wounded by illegal hunters.

 

" The tragic loss of innocent villagers could have been prevented if Nepali

wildlife officials had in place better anit-poaching measures, " stated

TigerAid's executive director Richard Birchard. " The tiger is a very elusive

animals. You don't just happen to go into a nature preserve and spot them. It

takes a good amount of time. This incident indicates that poachers have easy

access, resources and sufficient time to hunt down a tiger, " he said.

 

Plight of Elephants in Thailand - The Star 11th Dec. 2001

 

Late at night on a busy Bangkok street, a terrified female elephant roars in

pain. Injured after being hit by a bus, the 22 year old elephant lurches by the

roadside. Her panicked handler, struggling to calm her, shouts for help.

 

A vet rushes to the scene to look after the injured animal. Alongkorn, a vet in

Thailand's Royal Bureau, says road accidents are common for elephants brought

into the city by their handlers in search of food and money.

 

" This sort of thing is not a surprise. It happens all the time. I've seen many

elephants hit by cars or with their legs stuck in big potholes here, " he said.

Alongkorn said that in June alone he treated 20 elephants in Bangkok for illness

or injury. He says 15 elephants have been injured in road accidents so far this

year, compared with around 20 last year.

 

Experts say an estimated 2 500 wild elephants still roam the Thai jungles while

another 2 000 are registered as tame or domesticated animals. Many are owned by

impoverished handlers who, when times are hard, bring them into the capital,

with its notorious pollution and traffic congestion. There the noble animals

become beggars. " It is so sad to see elephants begging for food, " Alongkorn

says.

 

" At home, we have no work, no money. If we don't come here, we will surely

starve, " explains Pong Malingam, who left his children behind in north-eastern

Surin province to come to Bangkok with his wife and his only asset - a bull

elephant called Buaban. " At least my elephant will have something to eat, " he

adds. Pong says life in the Thai capital is not easy, especially for large

animals trying to negotiate the busy streets. " We don't want to torture our

animals doing this...they are not worth one or two baht each but over 300 000

baht. But we just have no choice, " he says. Pong and other mahouts make a

living in Bangkok by selling 20-baht bunches of bananas and vegetables to

passers-by to feed the animals. Pong has other money spinning hopes for his

elephant, a young and strong bull: breeding. " We don't have many elephants left

at the moment. My elephants can mate with about 40 to 50 cows a year, and more

than half of these matings will be successful, " he adds.

 

Pong says he will receive about 10 000 baht for allowing his bull to mate with a

cow, but only when a baby is born, which takes well over a year. But many

owners of tame elephants do not want their cows to breed - mothers cannot work

while nursing. Most domesticated elephants are caught in the wild, rather than

bred in captivity.

 

 

 

Mahouts say they earn about 200 to 400 baht a day bty selling elephant foods,

but much of this has to be spend paying off police. Officially, elephants are

banned from the city. In the heart of Bangkok, mahouts sleep in small tents,

and work from early evening until after 2am when nightlife in the city begins to

wind down. They have a harsh life here. Elephant handlers say they want the

government to help provide longer-term work for them. Soraida Salwala,

secretary-general of Friends of the Asian Elephant, says serious measures need

to be taken.

 

" I've urged the government to take serious, pro-active action on this. They

have been discussing this for years but nothing has improved. Mahouts don't want

to go back home as they can make good money here. I don't believe they don't

have any if they can buy an elephant worth as much as 300 000 baht, " says

Soraida.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Straits Times - Nov 20th, 2001.

 

Vietnam - Two wild elephants in Vietnam, believed to be responsible for tramping

12 villagers to death over the past few years sdied when a team of experts from

Malaysia and Vietnam tried to relocate them using tranquillizer darts.

 

Vietnamese television quoted the head of the Malaysian team as saying one of

the tranquillised elephants ran amok when it was awakened by people

photographing and filming the scene.

 

It later fell over a tree stump and suffocated to death. The other elephant,

which had also run off into the jungle, is said to have died of unknown reasons.

Vietnam has 86 elephants left in the wild compared with about 500 in the early

1980s. Their elephants suffered first at the hands of ivory poachers, then from

encroachment on their habitats by farmers and loggers.

 

 

 

Nepal - TIGERAID called upon Nepal Government officials recently to increase

anti-poaching enforcement after Nepali wildlife officials shot and killed a

Bengal tiger recently.

 

The tiger, suspect of killing seven villagers in late October near the Royal

Chitwan National Park, revealed by post mortem that it had been wounded with a

bullet injury at least two months earlier on its right thigh. Wildlife

officials stated that they believed the tiger was wounded by illegal hunters.

 

" The tragic loss of innocent villagers could have been prevented if Nepali

wildlife officials had in place better anit-poaching measures, " stated

TigerAid's executive director Richard Birchard. " The tiger is a very elusive

animals. You don't just happen to go into a nature preserve and spot them. It

takes a good amount of time. This incident indicates that poachers have easy

access, resources and sufficient time to hunt down a tiger, " he said.

 

Plight of Elephants in Thailand - The Star 11th Dec. 2001

 

Late at night on a busy Bangkok street, a terrified female elephant roars in

pain. Injured after being hit by a bus, the 22 year old elephant lurches by the

roadside. Her panicked handler, struggling to calm her, shouts for help.

 

A vet rushes to the scene to look after the injured animal. Alongkorn, a vet in

Thailand's Royal Bureau, says road accidents are common for elephants brought

into the city by their handlers in search of food and money.

 

" This sort of thing is not a surprise. It happens all the time. I've seen many

elephants hit by cars or with their legs stuck in big potholes here, " he said.

Alongkorn said that in June alone he treated 20 elephants in Bangkok for illness

or injury. He says 15 elephants have been injured in road accidents so far this

year, compared with around 20 last year.

 

Experts say an estimated 2 500 wild elephants still roam the Thai jungles while

another 2 000 are registered as tame or domesticated animals. Many are owned by

impoverished handlers who, when times are hard, bring them into the capital,

with its notorious pollution and traffic congestion. There the noble animals

become beggars. " It is so sad to see elephants begging for food, " Alongkorn

says.

 

" At home, we have no work, no money. If we don't come here, we will surely

starve, " explains Pong Malingam, who left his children behind in north-eastern

Surin province to come to Bangkok with his wife and his only asset - a bull

elephant called Buaban. " At least my elephant will have something to eat, " he

adds. Pong says life in the Thai capital is not easy, especially for large

animals trying to negotiate the busy streets. " We don't want to torture our

animals doing this...they are not worth one or two baht each but over 300 000

baht. But we just have no choice, " he says. Pong and other mahouts make a

living in Bangkok by selling 20-baht bunches of bananas and vegetables to

passers-by to feed the animals. Pong has other money spinning hopes for his

elephant, a young and strong bull: breeding. " We don't have many elephants left

at the moment. My elephants can mate with about 40 to 50 cows a year, and more

than half of these matings will be successful, " he adds.

 

Pong says he will receive about 10 000 baht for allowing his bull to mate with a

cow, but only when a baby is born, which takes well over a year. But many

owners of tame elephants do not want their cows to breed - mothers cannot work

while nursing. Most domesticated elephants are caught in the wild, rather than

bred in captivity.

 

 

 

Mahouts say they earn about 200 to 400 baht a day bty selling elephant foods,

but much of this has to be spend paying off police. Officially, elephants are

banned from the city. In the heart of Bangkok, mahouts sleep in small tents,

and work from early evening until after 2am when nightlife in the city begins to

wind down. They have a harsh life here. Elephant handlers say they want the

government to help provide longer-term work for them. Soraida Salwala,

secretary-general of Friends of the Asian Elephant, says serious measures need

to be taken.

 

" I've urged the government to take serious, pro-active action on this. They

have been discussing this for years but nothing has improved. Mahouts don't want

to go back home as they can make good money here. I don't believe they don't

have any if they can buy an elephant worth as much as 300 000 baht, " says

Soraida.