2015-11-14 - Pak Lay, Laos.
In Laos, the elephant population has been decimated by logging. Now, a caravan of elephants and their mahouts is marching 400 miles to raise awareness of their plight. The caravan started in Pak Lay district on 27 October and will end, 391 miles later, in Luang Prabang on 9 December with 20 elephants parading through the streets.
2014-05-05 - , Laos.
The captive elephant population in Laos will be extinct in just over a century if current management practices do not change, a University of Queensland study has found. It is estimated that only 480 captive elephants remain across Laos, and the study shows that changes to conservation management are necessary to prevent extinction.
2012-10-12 - Vientiane, Laos.
Known as “Japan-Laos Goodwill Elephants,” eight predominately young female elephants will soon be shipped from their forested and subtropical homes in north-west Laos, to the cold, concreted and caged Tohoko Safari Park, 20 kilometers outside the Fukushima evacuation zone. Well that’s where the fortunate ones will end up. Two are destined for the Kinoshito Circus, whereabouts unknown.
2012-02-23 - Hongsa, Laos.
Sayabouly has hosted an elephant festival for six consecutive years sharing venues in three districts — Sayabouly, Paklai and Hongsa. This year’s event took place, 17 to 19 February, and attracted around 100,000 visitors. Almost all spectators were domestic tourists, while just a few international tourists, possibly 1,000 and most ly Thais, joined the festival.
2012-02-17 - Hongsa, Laos.
The Elephant Festival has been organised to raise awareness of the need for action to protect the Asian elephant as part of the vital cultural and natural heritage of Laos and the countries of the region. Sayaboury Province welcomes you back to pay tribute to its elephants and enjoy great cultural activities and entertainment.
2011-11-29 - Xayabouri, Laos. Tracy Brookshaw, ElefantAsia
Having reported Laos’ first registered elephant birth of 2011 in Ban Viengkeo, Hongsa late September, ElefantAsia proudly announces the birth of a second baby elephant born in Sayaboury just last week. Born to mother Mae Thongkhoun under the supervision of ECC staff, this new baby elephant, a male, will share the same name ‘Noy’ meaning small with the other calves at the Center until the age of two or three when during an official animist ceremony he will chose his own name through the sel...
2011-09-29 - Xayabouri, Laos. Ingrid Suter
ElefantAsia has collaborated with the Elephant Conservation Centre to establish Laos’ first elephant breeding sanctuary. The Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) focuses on providing cows with a safe environment to give birth, when their calves while supplying an income for their owners through soft tourism. The ECC hosts a specialised elephant hospital and laboratory, run by ElefantAsia. This much-needed hospital is capable of detailed blood analysis and the provision of full-time care for sick...
2011-04-21 - Vientiane, Laos.
A herd of wild elephants in Luang Namtha province in the country´s north is now being protected to ensure they do not disappear, according to a provincial official. Luang Namtha provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office Head Mr Soukson Phonpadith told Vientiane Times yesterday there were great numbers of wild elephants in the province in the past. “Now only six elephants remain,” he said. The main causes of the decimation of the elephant population are de...
2011-02-18 - Paklay, Laos.
For its 5th edition, the Lao Elephant Festival will take place on: 18th, 19th & 20th February 2011. Paklay District, Sayaboury province
2010-08-17 - Vientiane, Laos.
A shootout between a gang of poachers and elephant handlers in Laos left one man and one pachyderm dead, news reports said Tuesday. The gang allegedly attacked the mahouts at midnight on August 9 in Hinheup district, Vientiane province, in an attempt to slaughter four elephants for their ivory and body parts, district governor Chanpaeng Douangphachan told the Vientiane Times. Chanpaeng said the poachers fired upon the mahouts, sparking a brief shootout before the elephant minders fled and inform...
2010-08-10 - Thongmixay, Laos. Fiona MacGregor
It may be known as the Land of a Million Elephants, but conservationists are warning that the imminent exportation of more than a third of Laos´s remaining domesticated elephant calves to a Chinese circus could prove disastrous for the endangered species. Once worshipped as gods, the animals are still considered sacred by many in Laos, but loss of habitat and tradition means there are now just 20 domesticated elephants under the age of 10 left in the country.
2009-09-14 - Vientiane, Laos.
The Laotian government has approved a plan to develop a lignite mine and built a power plant in the Hongsa Valley, an area near the habitat of an important elephant population. Environmentalists and experts fear this will drive the pachyderms closer to extinction. A new lignite mine and a power station are slated for construction in Hongsa Valley (Sayaboury province), a natural habitat for elephants that is irreplaceable.
2009-09-08 - Sayaboury, Laos. Beaumont Smith
The wildly successful Sayaboury Elephant Festival, held this year in the village of Hongsa, attracted more than 80,000 visitors, some elegantly attired, some dreadlocked ganja-inspired, despite the event's remote location in northwestern Laos. The 70 or so jumbos were by turns applauded, photographed and simply adored as they dipped like divas.
2009-09-05 - Botene, Laos. SIMON MONTLAKE
When French explorer Henri Mouhot passed this way in 1861, he found the roads so rugged -- "devil's pathways," he called them -- that the only way to travel was on the back of an elephant, without which "no communication would be possible." His appreciation for the animals grew to be nearly poetic. "This colossus is no rough specimen of natural handiwork," he wrote, "but a creature of especial amiability and sagacity, designed for the service of man." Back then, every village had elephants -- so...
2009-02-14 - Sayaboury, Laos.
2008-04-02 - Vientiane, Laos.
Laos, once known as the Land of a Million Elephants, faces warnings from conservationists that it could lose its herds within 50 years if it does not move quickly to protect them with tourism eyed as a possible savior. Poaching and habitat loss from logging, agriculture and hydroelectric projects has caused a major decline in the number of both wild and domesticated Asian elephants in Communist Laos.
2008-03-16 - Vientiane, Laos. DENIS D. GRAY
Connie Speight has swayed on elephant-back through unforgiving jungle and has adopted nine of the high-maintenance beasts. At 83, the retired American teacher is back in this Southeast Asian country to help save what remains of the once mighty herds. Once so famous for its herds that it was called Prathet Lane Xane, or Land of a Million Elephants, Laos is thought to have only 700 left in the wild.
2008-02-15 - Paklay, Laos.
the Elephant Festival has been organised to raise awareness of the need for action to protect the Asian elephant as part of the vital cultural and natural heritage of Laos and the countries of the region. Sayaboury Province welcomes you back to pay tribute to its elephants and enjoy great cultural activities and entertainment.
2008-02-14 - Paklay, Laos.
A mahout scrubs his elephant in a river Paklay, Laos, where the annual pachyderm festival is under way. The event draws attention to the plight of domestic and wild elephants in Asia. Laos once had more than a million of the beasts; now there are fewer than 2,000.
2007-12-22 - Luang Prabang, Laos. VanderWoodzanden
What an amazing experience to ride on the back (actually closer to the head) of an elephant and just trek through the jungle. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to experience the life of a mahout (elephant keeper and trainer) and join them in their daily activities. The elephant camp has been established outside of Luang Prabang. There are seven female elephants and one baby male elephant. The females were all rescued from their former life of logging and the male was purchased from Siam Rea...
2007-03-08 - Viengkeo, Laos. YVONNE BOHWONGPRASERT
Senior mahout Thongpetch's eyes turn misty when he speaks about his feelings for Kham Peng, a 23-year-old elephant with lots of personality. Xayaboury has 500 domesticated elephants and a further 200 to 300 that live in the wild. Hongsa is the largest district in the province and Viengkeo has the elephant community. Actually Hongsa's human and elephant population are evenly matched, and the district holds a special place in elephant folklore because of the excellence of its mahouts who regard th...
2007-03-07 - Hongsa, Laos.
Ancient Laos was known as Lan Xang, the "Land of One Million Elephants" but today fewer than 2,000 of the animals survive and about half of them are driving the problem by helping log the country's last virgin forests. To raise awareness about the plight of the majestic animals, France-based non-profit group ElefantAsia last month organised modern Laos' first elephant festival in the remote northwestern district of Hongsa.
2007-02-17 - Hongsa, Laos.
The Hongsa Elephant Festival has been organised to raise awareness of the need for action to protect the Asian elephant as part of the vital cultural and natural heritage of Laos and the countries of the region. Sayaboury Province welcomes you to pay tribute to its elephants and enjoy great cultural activities and entertainment. A unique 2-days cultural attraction for visitors to Laos!
2025-03-27 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
In a united effort to prevent forest fires, a team of three elephants joined over 20 locals in constructing firebreaks in Chiang Mai’s Mae Taeng district on Wednesday. The initiative, led by Phra Kh...
2025-03-27 - Cholamunda, India.
A Wild tusker, known as Kasera Komban, was found dead in abandoned septic tank in Kerala Malappuram. The tusker used to be affectionately called "Kasera Komban" due to its remarkably long tusks, which...
2025-03-18 - Wichita, United States.
The Sedgwick County Zoo announced Monday that 29-year-old African elephant Simunye delivered a stillborn calf following a healthy, full-term pregnancy. This would have marked the first elephant born a...
2025-03-08 - Guwahati, India.
A female elephant calf took birth in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park. The newborn, named Gauri, is the offspring of an elephant named Phulmai, who resides within the protected area of Kaziranga.
2025-03-05 - Trichy, India.
A 60-year-old female elephant named Jaini, who was being cared for at the MR Palayam Government Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Reserve Forest under the Trichy Forest Division, has passed away. The ...
2025-02-07 - Amboseli, Kenya.
We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Paolo, one of Amboseli’s most famous and cherished elephants. At 46 years old, Paolo’s death marks the loss of a true giant, not only in size but ...
