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misc

Thailand"s elephants bear the brunt of both boom and bust

2022-03-30 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Elephants are a major engine of tourism in Thailand, which uses nearly three-quarters of the total number of elephants used in tourism in Asia, according to London-based World Animal Protection (WAP), a nonprofit animal rights organization. Before the pandemic, nearly 40 million tourists visited Thailand in 2019 generating some 20% of its gross domestic product. According to surveys conducted by WAP, 28% of visitors rode elephants or intended to when they arrived, suggesting demand for over 11 m...

conflict

Elephants enjoy a buffet of fruit and vegetables during the National Elephant Day celebration at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden in Pattaya on Sunday

Giant hopes for Elephant Day - Dept strives for ways to reduce conflicts with humans

2022-03-14 - Bangkok, Thailand.

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) has drawn up a 10-year action plan to mitigate human-elephant conflicts that have occurred wherever elephants and locals share the same habitat, competing for the same resources. The government on May 26, 1998, designated March 13 as National Elephant Day in a bid to raise awareness about the animal's importance to society.

welfare

Cruelty debate over zoo exhibition highlights complexities of elephant tourism in Thailand

2021-12-22 - Bangkok, Thailand.

a recent controversy over an award-winning photo of a swimming elephant at Khao Kheow illustrates the friction that exists between some animal rights activists and people who manage elephants in Thailand. Some Thai people see a double standard in how Khao Kheow, and Thailand in general, have become lightning rods for animal-related criticism from the West. They wonder why the elephant swimming exhibitions held at zoos in Germany and Switzerland have drawn minimal criticism despite appearing to s...

welfare

Caught out in a virus world: Elephant camps across Thailand are attempting to reinvent their image as they shift their focus to domestic tourism in a bid to survive

2020-10-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Focusing on animal welfare, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is working with the Department of Livestock Development, veterinarians and elephant experts to seek a solution in enhancing the standards of elephant camps and mahouts around the country.

welfare

Elephant Tourism Is Way More Complex Than You’d Imagine: The Thailand Example

2020-07-30 - Bangkok, Thailand. Johanna Read

"Are there improvements to be made in how captive elephants are treated? Absolutely. But banning tourist-elephant interactions and boycotting elephant camps can result in worse, not better, welfare conditions for elephants. Dubrocard says, “It’s not the activity itself that should be criticized, but the way it’s managed and handled.”"

smuggle

Thailand Seized Elephant Tusks Worth US$ Half a Million

2017-03-08 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Thai authorities said Tuesday they have seized 422 pieces of ivory elephant tusks and arrested a Gambian national suspected of smuggling the illegal wildlife product worth some 17 million baht (US$ 482,406) The 300 kilograms of tusks were seized at Thailandâ€™s Suvarnabhumi airport late last week after customs found suspicious shipments from Malawi through Ethiopian Airlines listed as unprocessed gemstones, according to Associated Press.

film

Never piss off an elephant

2017-02-13 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Elephant things are all over my desk at work. I have elephant clothes and elephant kitchen tools. I was also planning on getting an elephant bamboo tattoo while I was in Thailand, which I definitely didn´t do after this experience. I went from loving elephants, to now being terrified of them.

smuggle

Thailand Seizes 87 African Ivory Tusks Worth $800,000

2016-04-07 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Officials in Thailand say they seized 315 kilograms (695 pounds) of African elephant tusks worth an estimated $800,000 at Bangkok´s international airport. Kulit Sombatsiri, director-general of the Thai Customs Department, said Tuesday that the haul of 87 ivory tusks was found March 27 in a dozen barrels sent from Mozambique on a Kenya Airways flight. A routine X-ray at Suvarnabhumi International Airport detected the contraband.

misc

A mahout, taken by mahouts, was roaming the street in front of Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate in Chon Buri in January 19 this year.

Mahouts welcome plan to take jumbos off city streets "Elephant Kingdom" project provides salaries, food in Surin

2015-11-18 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Many mahouts in Tha Tum and nearby areas on Wednesday were seen registering with the Khotcha-anajak or "Elephant Kingdom" programme at Pudin village in tambon Krapho. The project, operated by the Zoological Park Organisation of Thailand, has set aside 25 million baht to improve the living conditions of 200 elephants and their mahouts.

smuggle

Thailand seizes smuggled elephant tusks worth $6 million

2015-04-20 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Thailand seized 4 tons of ivory hidden in bean sacks tracked from Congo in what authorities said was the biggest bust in the countryâ€™s history, customs officials said Monday. The 739 elephant tusks, bound for Laos, were seized upon arrival at a port in Bangkok on Saturday after the authorities received a tip and had tracked the containers from Congo, Customs Department director-general Somchai Sujjapongse told reporters.

event

13th King"s Cup Elephant Polo in Thailand

2014-08-28 - Bangkok, Thailand.

The annual tournament, now in its thirteenth year, will take place at the Siam Polo Park at VR Sports Club in Bangkok between 28-31 August 2014.

event

Anantara Moves King"s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament to Bangkok

2014-01-31 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Anantara Hotels, Resorts and Spas has confirmed that the King´s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament will this year move from its original home of Hua Hin to the Thai capital of Bangkok. The annual tournament, now in its thirteenth year, will take place at the Siam Polo Park at VR Sports Club in Bangkok between 28-31 August 2014.

misc

Royal Elephants" Stable Museum

2013-11-12 - Bangkok, Thailand.

The Royal Elephants´ Stable Museum is open to the public on weekdays during office hours, but reservations must be made in advance.The museum was visited by His Majesty the King on Nov 26 last year, officially opened by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on May 13 this year and has been welcoming the general public since last month. Under the supervision of the Royal Chitralada Projects, the museum consists of two former stables for royal elephants covering a total area of 176m2, as well ...

relocation

A veterinarian takes a blood sample from a seized elephant at an elephant camp on Phuket Island on Wednesday. Authorities confiscated 16 unregistered elephants from several elephant camps at tourist spots

16 illegal elephants seized from tourist areas

2013-08-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Police said Wednesday they had seized 16 elephants from tourist destinations as part of a nationwide swoop on operators suspected of using smuggled wild pachyderms for entertainment. The animals were removed on Tuesday and Wednesday from camps in the southern and eastern resort areas of Koh Chang in Trat and Phuket, Krabi and Phangnga provinces, which are popular with holidaymakers, said Watcharin Phoosit, from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division.

misc

A forestry official launches a remote-controlled plane equipped with a camera. Officials are sending the planes to fly over a reservoir in the Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi to search for a suspected white elephant spotted in the area recentl

Unmanned plane to help in jumbo hunt

2013-04-29 - Bangkok, Thailand.

They are undertaking the search in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi province after a photographer had reported seeing one in a herd on April 10. Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, deputy chief of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said cameras will be installed along elephant trails inside the park to help in the search. Officials would also send camera-mounted UAVs into the forest. "If it is a white elephant, we will consider how to deal with it," he said.

wild

PM instructs Plodprasop to monitor suspected white elephant on spot

2013-04-26 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasob Suraswadi has been instructed by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to visit Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi Province, following reported sightings of a white elephant in the area, it could not be confirmed for the moment whether the elephant calf in the news was a white elephant until all the traits have been confirmed by experts.

poaching

Meanwhile, park chief Chaiwat Limlikhit-aksorn insisted that Dulasit

Trafficking gang "killed elephants"

2013-04-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.

A Laotian-Vietnamese wildlife trafficker and influential local people are believed to be behind the slaying of wild elephants in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi. Elephant expert Dulasit Snidwongs na Ayutthaya said the alleged Laotian wildlife trafficker who has Vietnamese nationality was Roi or Doi Jantawongsa. She, and influential people, including a Thai policeman and his Vietnamese wife, who live in the northeastern province of Chaiyaphum, worked together and were allegedly involve...

trade

Forest elephants and whitetip sharks: PLOS ONE papers at CITES

2013-03-12 - Bangkok, Thailand.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species or Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was organized to limit exploitation of international trade of wild animals and plants. Their latest meeting is currently underway in Bangkok, Thailand and two PLOS ONE papers provided evidence to support the enhanced protection of two threatened species – African forest elephants and oceanic whitetip sharks.

trade

Tom Milliken, top Cites investigator on ivory trafficking

Cites "loses patience" with Thailand

2013-03-11 - Bangkok, Thailand.

The worldÂ´s top officials on illegal ivory trading say Thailand and other "gang of eight" countries must stop the business within a year or suffer severe trade sanctions. British newspaper the Guardian quoted the officials as identifying the other countries involved as source nations Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, "enabling" countries Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, and destination countries Thailand and China. Tom de Meulenaer, a senior Cites official at the bodyÂ´s conferen...

trade

Thailand Introduces Measures To Control Ivory Trade

2012-12-26 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Thailand´s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation is introducing its new ivory trade control measures to protect Thailand from trade barriers imposed by member countries of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

misc

For "de-programmed" elephants, return to wild is a slow, costly process

2012-10-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Two elephant conservation groups are working together to reintroduce domesticated elephants to the wild, releasing 84 of them over the past 10 years under an initiative of Her Majesty the Queen. The Elephant Reintroduction Foundation (ERF) must shoulder not only the increasingly high cost of purchasing elephants, but also of preparing them for their return to the wild. In the meantime, it focuses on taking good care of the domesticated elephants in its custody, which is only a fraction of the nu...

conservation

The Dark Side Of The Elephant Business

2012-03-31 - Bangkok, Thailand.

At this time of writing, 26 elephants without registration papers have been confiscated and impounded at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center (TECC), a government-run facility and elephant hospital. TECC has confirmed that eight elephants have tested positive in the screening process for TB, two have tested positive with a tetanus, and one of those elephants with tetanus has died. At the March 13th National Elephant Day symposium in Bangkok, the DNP Chief estimated that 10% of the captive eleph...

medical

Accusations fly over poor health of seized elephants in Thailand

2012-03-29 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Eight of them have tuberculosis, while the others had blood infections and other ailments. The elephants were seized on Feb 29 by National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department officials, who suspected the animals had been obtained illegally. A female called Sri Thong, died on March 20 and health checks on the other 18 conducted by Department of Livestock officials found 15 of them to be in poor health. Mr Sittidet, chief of the state-run Elephant Hospital at the National Elephant In...

conservation

Tourists watch a traditional waterpouringceremonyand a feast organised for elephants at Ban KarenRuamMit in tambonMaeYao of Chiang Rai’sMuang district, to mark Thai Elephant Day yesterday.

State agencies vow better safety for jumbos

2012-03-14 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Damrong Pidech, chief of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, yesterday said the department backed plans to amend regulations on issuing ID cards to captive elephants to make it an effective tool to prevent poaching. Mr Damrong was speaking at a seminar to mark Thai Elephant Day yesterday. Under current regulations, an ID card is issued to a captive elephant when it is eight years old. However, Mr Damrong said the ID cards should be issued to a calf as young as thre...

poaching

Three people have been arrested for purchasing elephant meat and ivory from poachers who allegedly hunted the pachyderms in Phetchaburi province

Three arrested for illegally possessing elephant meat and ivory

2012-02-23 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Police arrested Manoon Ruengworraset, his son Withoon, and Panya Samranphis for possessing carcasses of protected animals without permission, after a raid at their homes turned up several organs of elephants, including penises, and ivory. While in police custody, the three suspects implicated Lookkaew Uppatham and Jan Kuafoo for allegedly killing a number of elephants and butchering them for meat and ivory. Police are also on the hunt for Somphorn Jorkai, who has been implicated in poaching.

abstract

New ID cards planned to protect elephants

2012-02-02 - Bangkok, Thailand.

A new type of identity card should be issued for elephants, which should have embedded microchips, an updated photograph every six months and an updated record of every unique change, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said yesterday. The proposal will be taken to the Interior Ministry, and if it is okayed, permission for the movement of every elephant will have to come from provincial governors. This should make illegal movement or getting the pachyderms to beg more difficult, perma...

abstract

New ID cards planned to protect elephants

2012-02-02 - Bangkok, Thailand.

abstract

An elephant trench will be dug at Prachuap Khiri Khan

Trench to protect wild elephants

2012-01-18 - Bangkok, Thailand.

The declaration was signed yesterday by eight state agencies, the WorldWide Fund for Nature (WWF) Thailand, the Kui Buri Wild Elephant Conservation and Environment and Tambon Hat Kham Administrative Organisation. It originated from His Majesty the King´s idea - expressed on July 5, 1999 - for a conservation strategy to rehabilitate the 18,000 rai of agriculture lands, deemed the Kui Buri Forest encroachment, to be the home and food source for elephants and other wildlife.

poaching

Livestock and wildlife authorities examine part of an elephant carcass found in the Kaeng Krachan National Park before removing it for an autopsy.

Row erupts over mystery of elephant deaths in Phetchaburi, Thailand

2012-01-15 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Accusations fly between Kaeng Krachan park chief and local villagers over who killed five jumbos. The brutal slaying of wild elephants in Kaeng Krachan National Park has taken a nasty turn with five officials suspected of being involved.

poaching

Thai Customs Department officials inspect seized elephant tusks ahead of a news briefing in Bangkok. A Thai elephant was discovered in Kaeng Krachan National Park without its tusks, tail or penis, parks that were believed to be headed to restaurants. Re

Thai elephant killed, mutilated "for restaurants"

2012-01-05 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Thai wildlife officials on Thursday said body parts from a dead wild elephant found without its tusks, tail and penis were likely destined for restaurants in tourist areas. The creature, which was discovered in Kaeng Krachan National Park near the Myanmar border in central Thailand on Monday, is believed to have died at the hands of a local gang of poachers.

medical

A man looks at Pa Hae Po, a wounded 22-year-old male elephant using trunk to support its balance while being treated at the Elephant Hospital in Lampang province, northern Thailand Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. The elephant received an injury on the front lef

Thai elephant steps on land mine in Myanmar

2011-09-13 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Thai veterinarians say a 22-year-old elephant was wounded when he wandered into neighboring Myanmar and stepped on a land mine. Soraida Salwala of the Friends of the Asian Elephant conservation group in northern Thailand says the pachyderm´s left foot was severely hurt in Sunday´s blast in Myanmar´s Kayin state.

film

The eyes of Thailand

2011-09-04 - Bangkok, Thailand.

A new film that highlights the plight of Asian Elephant landmine survivors.

fossil

Fossils of possible new jumbo species found

2011-06-04 - Bangkok, Thailand.

The scientists from the Northeastern Research Institute of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources of Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University found seven pieces of fossil tooth in Nakhon Ratchasima´s Chalerm Phrakiat district about 10 years ago. "The fossils are different from other ancient elephants found in Egypt, Kenya, Europe and China," said Chavalit Vidthayanon, deputy director of the institute. "This is the first time we have found such a species in Thailand," he said, adding the discove...

smuggle

African elephants victims of Thai trafficking

2011-03-11 - Bangkok, Thailand.

The more than 1,600 tusks seized since the beginning of 2009 by Thai customs indicate that more than 800 elephants were slaughtered to feed a murky and voracious international market. "Thailand is still ranked number one" in the ivory traffic rankings, said Chris Shepherd, deputy manager for Southeast Asia at wildlife protection group Traffic.

welfare

Thailand rescues nearly 100 elephants from floods

2010-10-18 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Thailand evacuated dozens of elephants from a popular tourist attraction Monday after they were threatened by floods that submerged homes and paralyzed transportation in parts of the country. The rescue operation in Ayutthaya province, north of the capital, had 92 of the endangered beasts moved from a site known as Elephant Village, said manager Ittiporn Kaolamai.

smuggle

Large shipment of illicit ivory from African elephants seized at Bangkok airport

2010-07-17 - Bangkok, Thailand.

A large shipment of illicit ivory has been seized in Thailand after the elephant tusks were smuggled from Africa in pallets labeled as plywood furniture or notepads. Customs authorities said Friday the 765 kilograms (1,683 pounds) of elephant tusks seized Tuesday was Thailand´s third big ivory seizure this year.

welfare

Don"t feed the elephants: Bangkok introduces fines

2010-07-12 - Bangkok, Thailand.

You can still feed elephants in Thailand´s bustling capital — but it could cost you. Bangkok authorities said Monday anyone caught handing bunches of bananas or sugar cane to the hulking beasts — proffered by their handlers in a ruse to make money — faces a $320 (10,000 baht) fine.

smuggle

Thai Authorities Seize 1.4 Tons of Ivory Husks Labeled: Printing Metal

2010-04-21 - Bangkok, Thailand. Ayinde O. Chase

Thai authorities announced Wednesday they had seized 1.4 tons of ivory tusks. The illegal ivory haul is worth nearly $2.2 million. The 296 tusks were confiscated at Bangkok International airport and originated from Qatar. Acting on a tip, customs officials found the tusks Saturday in a shipment declared as “printing metal.” The shipment was slated for a Thai company based in the capital. According to officials, the elephant tusks weighed 3,058 pounds and most likely originated from southern ...

smuggle

Goring the elephant smuggling trade. Huge ivory haul found at city airport, as customs uncovers new ruse for avoiding detection

2010-03-08 - Bangkok, Thailand.

"Was I shocked? No. But I grieved for the grisly fate of those elephants," says Tanat Suvattanametakul. The director of the Clearance Customs Bureau at Suvarnabhumi airport recounted his feelings after opening two large pallets at a cargo building of the airport on the night of Feb24. He found 239 pieces of elephant tusk weighing two tonnes. The contraband was valued at 120 million baht.

smuggle

Thai customs seizes 2 tons of ivory

2010-02-25 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Thailand has seized two tons of elephant tusks from Africa hidden in pallets labeled as mobile phone parts in the country's largest ivory seizure. Thai Customs officials valued Wednesday night's haul at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport at 120 million baht ($3.6 million). It is further sign that Thailand is emerging as a hub for the illicit trade.

trade

Govt seeks removal from Cites blacklist

2010-02-23 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Thailand is trying to persuade a UN wildlife trade watchdog to remove it from the blacklist of countries involved in the illegal ivory trade. The director-general of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Jatuporn Burutpat, yesterday said Thailand was preparing a report to submit to a meeting of the Conference of the Parties to Cites in Qatar's Doha from March 13 to 25.

smuggle

Thai police arrest African ivory traffickers

2009-11-17 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Police have arrested two Thai nationals for trafficking in African ivory, a crime that carries a maximum four-year jail sentence, police said Tuesday. Samat Chokechoima and Kanok Wongsarot were arrested Monday in a sting operation in which Thai police posed as buyers of carved African ivory items, Police Lieutenant Colonel Thanayos Gengkasrikit, spokesman of the Natural Resource and Environmental Crime Division said. The suspects face a maximum of four years in prison and fines of up to 40,000 b...

relocation

Getting tough on elephant abuse

2009-10-28 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Deputy Bangkok Governor Theerachon Manomaipiboon Wednesday handed out a Bt2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of men apprehended with an elephant in Lat Phrao and said that from November 6 the city would be getting tough on such animal abuse.

research

The Royal Elephant National Museum chronicles the role of white elephants in Thailand"s history

2009-10-11 - Bangkok, Thailand. Yvonne Bohwongprasert

Tucked away in a corner of the Dusit Palace compound is an historically significant depository of the long traditions and beliefs associated with white elephants in the Kingdom - the Royal Elephant National Museum. Some of the most prominent fixtures include huge elephant tusks that date back to the reigns of King Rama V and King Rama VII. Located at the exit of the Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall, the edifice is built in a beautiful Thai architectural style and encircled with thick vegetation that ha...

misc

Climate: Five elephants & a Chinese rock star

2009-09-29 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Today I met up with a group of elephants on the outskirts of Bangkok that have been on a 250km trek through Thailand organised by Greenpeace, tcktcktck and a number of wildlife, animal welfare and human rights organisations. The elephant caravan has travelled from Khao Yai National Park to Bangkok arriving in time for the climate negotiations.

trade

Osaka Zoo wants to raise two Thai elephants

2009-09-13 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Bangkok and Tokyo will hold talks over a plan to send a pair of Thai elephants to a state zoo in Osaka, Industry Minister Charnchai Chairungruang said yesterday. The minister, who is in Japan to promote trade cooperation, said the jumbos would be a "present to mark close trade ties between the two countries". Japan had expressed strong interest in raising a pair of Thai elephants at its zoo in Osaka, which already has one Thai jumbo, Mr Charnchai said ahead of a meeting with the Japanese environ...

welfare

City Hall plans long-term solution to roaming elephant problem

2009-09-10 - Bangkok, Thailand.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will propose to the government long-term solutions to roaming elephants, hoping to receive support on City Hall’s Chang Yim (Smiling Elephant) Project, according to Deputy Bangkok Governor Teerachon Manomaiphibul. Chang Yim aims to take Bangkok’s roaming elephants off the capital’s streets within a year, and get them back to their natural environment, or something almost like their real homes.

smuggle

Illegal Trade in Endangered Asian Elephants Thriving Under Thai Loopholes

2009-08-14 - Bangkok, Thailand. Rhishja Larson

Current laws in Thailand make it easy for live elephants - including infant elephants stolen from their mothers in the wild - to be traded unscrupulously for “entertainment” purposes. For many people, thoughts of Thailand conjure up romantic notions of being transported to various tourist attractions on the back of an elephant. But tragically, many of the captive elephants used for the Thai tourist trade, and as zoo and circus exports, are the victims of an insidious, illegal market that thr...

film

The great elephant exodus. Video: Bangkok"s governor promises an elephant-free city by next summer. Fat chance?

2009-08-14 - Bangkok, Thailand.

As the elephant dragged its feet towards city hall, the chains draped from its neck swung like twin pendulums. The animal’s dusty skin fit loose on its 30-year-old body. Where a right eye belonged, there was only a crusty socket.
Such sorry condition is typical of Thailand’s street elephants. This particular pachyderm, named Pang Buakam by its owner, has squeezed along the city’s narrow lanes for more than ten years. Like other urban elephants, Pang Buakam and its guide would ply to...

relocation

City Hall buys partially blind elephant Pang Bua Kham

2009-08-11 - Bangkok, Thailand. SUPOJ WANCHAROEN

Public donations have allowed City Hall to buy a partially blind 30-year-old elephant found begging for food on Bangkok's streets. Pang Bua Kham will be sent to the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang as part of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's "Smiling Elephants" project. The project is aimed at rescuing all elephants roaming the streets of Bangkok within one year. Donations are being collected from the public to buy the beasts from their owners and transport them to the state...

misc

A staff member at the Ayutthaya Elephant Kraal paints an elephant black and white to make gentle fun of the national craze for pandas, which the kraal says has left elephants’ needs overlooked.

Thai elephants just have to grin and bear it

2009-06-26 - Bangkok, Thailand. SUNTHORN PONGPAO

The Ayutthaya Elephant Kraal has painted Plai Panlan, a 5-year-old male elephant, in the panda colours of black and white to remind the public that elephants have needs, too. The watercolour is harmless, and the elephant did not seem to mind. Kraal staff are gently mocking the national craze over the female panda cub born to Lin Hui and Xuang Xuang at Chiang Mai zoo.

welfare

Handler leads an elephant along the famous Soi Cowboy street in Bangkok

Urban elephants ply Bangkok streets in search of tourist dollars

2009-02-24 - Bangkok, United States.

A drunken tourist staggers about as he repeatedly drops his bags of elephant feed on Bangkok's Soi Cowboy boulevard. Beneath the neon lights advertising Thailand's bars and bargirls, the man teases the two-year-old elephant as the beast tries to coax a few sugarcane snacks from his shaking hands.
Finally the distressed elephant lets out a cry and her handlers pull her down the street to the next group of paying tourists. "They get beaten because they're tired, they don't want to walk, it'...

research

Can jumbo elephants really paint? Intrigued by stories, naturalist Desmond Morris set out to find the truth

2009-02-20 - Bangkok, Thailand. Desmond Morris

Is it true that elephants are artists? Can they really paint pictures of flowers, trees and even other elephants? Are they the only animals on Earth, apart from human beings, that can create pictorial images? Last summer my friend, the scientist Richard Dawkins, asked me to look at a video clip on the internet, taken in Thailand, that showed a young female elephant called Hong painting a picture of an elephant running along, holding a flower in its trunk. He wanted to know if I thought it was a ...

misc

The global temperature from 1850 until today

Temperatures are coldest in a decade

2009-01-17 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Thais are donning scarves, farmers are scrambling to save their rice crops and snakes are freezing to death. That is all because temperatures in this normally balmy country have dipped to their coldest in a decade. The country has been gripped in a cold spell that blew down from China earlier this month and is likely to last until February, the Thai Meteorological Department said Saturday. Chukiat Thaijaratsathian, an official in the department's forecasting office, said temperatures in the coun...

conflict

Wildlife sanctuary in Thailand uses unwanted CDs to keep elephants away

CDs used to protect crops from elephants

2008-11-03 - Bangkok, Thailand.

A wildlife sanctuary in Thailand has come up with an innovative way of keeping elephants away from farmer's crops – unwanted CDs. The Elephant Conservation Network (ECN), working alongside the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), is the first to use the CDs as light reflectors to deter the elephants from destroying Thailand's crops. Ecologists in the country claim that "crop-raiding" commonly occurs on traditional elephant forest routes with the large animals devouring crops and destroying tree...

misc

Elephant therapyto treat depression

2008-08-26 - Bangkok, Thailand. APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

Researchers from Chiang Mai University (CMU) have a new means of fighting phobias and depression _ elephants. CMU had previously studied the effects of ''elephant therapy'' on autistic children and, having noted promising results, are now proposing a similar programme for people suffering from depression or phobias. Audomsark Haesungcharern, dean of CMU's associated medical sciences faculty, believes the animals' voice may have therapeutic qualities.

misc

Art budget cut, elephant painting thrives. Matt muses about the artistic abilities of the Thai Elephant

2008-04-03 - Bangkok, Thailand. Matt Hunziker /The Daily Cardinal

At the Academy for Elephants in Thailand, they are teaching elephants to paint. In a video titled “Elephant Paints Own Self-Portrait,” you can see one of the elephants hard at work with a paintbrush in its trunk. As the shocked spectators in the background attest, the elephant paintings have become a major tourist attraction for Thailand. (Human) art critics have sung their praises. But while some artists are actively trying to cultivate these animals’ creative talents, scientists and othe...

misc

Who will miss Asia’s awkward elephants?

2008-03-16 - Bangkok, Thailand. gill murdoch

Standing ten feet tall and weighing up to five tonnes, you’d think an Asian elephant would be hard to miss. But the giants that range across 13 Asian states are so at home in the dense forests and jungles they live in they’re often hard to spot. Conservation experts rarely expect to see the wild elephants they spend their time devising management strategies for. Head counts are mostly based on dung samples rather than fleeting sightings. It’s tourists who typically get the clearest view.

conservation

Elephant Conservation in Thailand

2008-03-13 - Bangkok, Thailand. Karen Emmons

The Kingdom of Thailand – a country that has long revered the elephant for its royal and religious significance – is home to some 4,000 of the fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) still surviving. Compared to the relatively enduring population of African elephants (currently estimated to number about 500,000), the rapidly dwindling Asian population was a major cause of concern. In 1975, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)...

misc

Bangkok restaurant to give big spenders a taste of poverty

2008-03-06 - Bangkok, Thailand.

A Bangkok restaurant is treating its biggest spenders to a 300,000-dollar meal prepared by Michelin-starred chefs, but only after they have jetted to an elephant camp to see how the other half live. "We're taking these people to Surin, to see how the poor people actually are living and are managing their elephants. They cannot even manage themselves and they cannot manage their elephants," he told AFP. After seeing the dwindling number of pachyderms and the impoverished lives of their handlers, ...

people

Walk on the wild side, Meet "Dr Lott", wildlife vet

2008-03-04 - Bangkok, Thailand. KRITTIYA WONGTAVAVIMARN

It took Pattarapol Maneeorn five days trekking through the jungle in Chanthaburi province to find a 65-year-old wild elephant stuck in mud. By the time the wildlife vet arrived, the animal was breathing slowly, his eyes showing his fatigue; his heart, left lung and kidney were being pressed down on by his six-tonne body.

birth

Elephants a symbol of Thailand"s shame

2008-02-17 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Of all the illegal activities that animate the streets of Bangkok - the vendors who hawk pirated DVDs and fake watches, the brothels that call themselves saunas one stands out more than others. Elephants are not supposed to saunter down the city's streets as they do almost every night. For at least two decades the giant grey beasts have plodded through this giant grey city, stopping off at red-light districts and tourist areas where their handlers peddle elephant snacks of sugar cane and bananas...

misc

In Bangkok, It"s Attack of the Two-Ton Panhandlers

2008-01-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Sir, you can't beg for coins here, put your trunk away! The New York Times reports on the phenomenon of domesticated elephants begging on the streets of Bangkok. It's technically illegal to sell elephant treats to tourists, but the rewards are great: In four nights of begging an elephant handler can make the same amount of money the typical Thai worker makes in a month.

misc

Elephants and their handlers wander Bangkok

Caution: Elephants Brake for Food on Bangkok’s Roads

2008-01-20 - Bangkok, Thailand. THOMAS FULLER

Of all the illegal activities that animate the streets of Bangkok — the vendors who hawk pirated DVDs and fake watches, the brothels that call themselves saunas — one stands out more than others. Elephants are not supposed to saunter down the city’s streets as they do almost every night. For at least two decades the giant gray beasts have plodded through this giant gray city, stopping off at red-light districts and tourist areas where their handlers peddle elephant snacks of sugar cane and...

misc

Illegal elephant problems persists in Bangkok

2008-01-14 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Despite government efforts, mahouts continue to illegally bring elephants into the Thai capital Bangkok. Though elephant owners face fines for bringing their animals into the city, the International Herald Tribune reported that large numbers of them continue to do so due to problems of enforcement and the potential earnings from tourists. Since 2006 Bangkok has operated a Stray Elephant Task Force, but a member of the group told the newspaper that the role offered numerous problems, making it un...

misc

The Siam flag, featuring an image of a white elephant on red-coloured cloth, will fly at the top of the Siam Flag Museum from Tuesday.

Hoisting the flag of Siam. The "thong chang" will fly again to honour King Chulalongkorn

2007-10-19 - Bangkok, Thailand. PLOENPOTE ATTHAKOR

The Siam flag, featuring an image of a white elephant on red-coloured cloth, will fly at the top of the Siam Flag Museum from Tuesday.
Decades after it was decommissioned and disappeared from public sight, the flag of Siam or thong chang _ a red flag with the image of a white elephant at the centre _ will be flown permanently at a private museum in Lat Phrao district from Tuesday onwards.

conference

The Opening symposium on Managing the Health and Reproduction of Asian Elephant Populations in Asia.

2007-10-08 - Bangkok, Thailand.

The symposium on the managing of health and reproduction of elephant populations in Asia will be held at Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand from 8th to 10th October 2007. The members of the local organizing committee are pleased to welcome everyone interested in the scientific programs organized for the participants. The purpose of this international congress is to develop and up to date the understanding of health care and reproductive system management of A...

blog

Elephants in the city

2007-10-07 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Sometimes I am a sucker for animal tricks and here is a perfect example. At night in Bangkok, there are baby to large-size elephants that roam the streets with a handler. There are never large groups of elephants on the streets, but rather one elephant here, another there. For a dollar, you can feed the elephant baby cucumbers, baby bananas or sugarcane and it is fantastic. The elephants trunk comes right up to you and grabs the food. They have a very strong trunk, it is truly impressive. When y...

film

Broadcast: Elephant Kingdom

2007-09-17 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Animal Planets Kingdom of the Elephants is a 60-minute documentary special filmed entirely on location in Southeast Asia that explores the complex bond between elephants and the people of Thailand. Catch the trumpeting on 9th September at 8pm, on ASTRO Channel 51.

film

Joseph Pontecorvo directed Kingdom of Elephants.

Animal magic

2007-09-08 - Bangkok, Thailand. ZACK YUSOF

There’s a well-known saying among film directors that one should never work with children or animals, let alone on the same project. But that’s exactly what director, producer and cinematographer Joseph Pontecorvo has had to do on his documentary, Kingdom of the Elephants, which premières tomorrow on Animal Planet at 8pm. Kingdom of the Elephants is an hour-long documentary filmed entirely on location in South-East Asia. It explores the complex bond between the elephants and the people of T...

trade

Tighter rule soon for export of elephants

2007-08-18 - Bangkok, Thailand. APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

A new regulation on the export of live elephants and body parts will be put into force soon to protect Thai pachyderms from illegal trading. Drafted by the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, the regulation is aimed at strengthening control on the export of elephants, particularly for entertainment purposes at foreign zoos. The new regulation follows last years controversial animal exchange programme under which the government sent eight elephants to Taronga zoo in Austral...

accident

Enraged circus elephant stomps Thai man to death

2007-07-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.

An angry circus elephant in eastern Thailand grabbed a man who had provoked him and then stomped on him until he was fatally injured, police said Saturday. Surat Kaenthip, a 30-year-old air conditioner repairman, had hit the six-year-old elephant while he was resting in an open field Friday in Rayong province, 140 kilometers (90 miles) east of Bangkok, said police Lt. Col. Thanit Saeniwong na Ayuddhaya. "The elephant then grabbed the man's body with his trunk and hurled him on to the ground befo...

misc

Elephants banned from protest

2007-05-23 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Authorities are preparing to stop 99 elephants and thousands of villagers from entering Thailand's capital to protest the possible dissolution of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's political party, the military said on Wednesday. We have to use all means to stop the elephants from joining the political rally," said Prayuth Chanocha, commander of the 1st Army, which is responsible for peacekeeping in Bangkok.

people

Israeli Yoram Ben-Hamo kidnaps Thai elephant elephant after causing car crash; threatens to harm it if police arrest him

2007-05-01 - Bangkok, Thailand. Itamar Eichner

An Israeli tourist, Yoram Ben-Hamo, was convicted last Saturday for kidnapping a baby elephant in Thailand and holding it hostage. During his getaway, he picked up a knife from a merchant, grabbed a baby elephant from a yard in the neighborhood and warned the police that if they did not leave him alone he would harm the elephant. Having called in a hostage-negotiation team, the police eventually offered Ben-Hamo a cigarette and he was then captured while lighting it. The elephant was returned ho...

zoo

Eight Thai elephants in Australia treated well

2007-05-01 - Bangkok, Thailand.

All eight Thai elephants now living at two Australian zoos are being treated well by zoo officials, Thailand's envoy down under said Tuesday. Ambassador Bundit Sothipalarit said five Thai elephants are now at Sydney's Taronga Zoo and another three at Melbourne Zoo. Zoo officials have been treating them tenderly, the envoy said, and are hard at work encouraging the large Thai guests to serve as unofficial Thai ambassadors.

event

Thai monks march with elephants calling for Buddhism be made the national religion

2007-04-25 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Hundreds of Buddhist monks led by at least nine elephants marched to parliament Wednesday to demand that Thailand's new post-coup constitution enshrine Buddhism as the national religion. "Buddhism is increasingly coming under threat," Thongchai Kuasakul, head of the Buddhists' Network of Thailand who led the march, said in a statement.

event

Baby elephant by artificial insemination a first

2007-04-03 - Bangkok, Thailand.

The Thai National Elephant Institute (TNEI) plans to offer the country's elephant born as a result of artificial insemination to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej as a gift on his 80th birthday on December 5 this year. The female baby elephant – which is going to celebrate her one-month birthday this Saturday, was separated from her mother, because the mother showed some hostile signs against her first baby.

misc

Food shortages force jumbos out of jungles

2007-03-17 - Bangkok, Thailand.

In Kanchanaburi province, Pinan Chotiroseranee, president of the Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, blamed a mass exodus of wild elephants into the outside world on human encroachment on their natural habitat in the Salak Phra wildlife sanctuary, which is currently experiencing a serious shortage of water. In Surin, around 87 pachyderms kept at an elephant centre in Tha Tum district are facing a severe shortage of water, as a result of the drought which ravaged 1,594 villages in eleven districts a...

smuggle

5 men arrested for allegedly smuggling elephants into Thailand

2007-03-12 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Five men were arrested after being caught smuggling two elephants into Thailand from neighboring Myanmar, authorities said Monday. The men and beasts, a 1-year-old calf and a female adult, entered Thailand by boat Thursday after a trip across the Salween River from Myanmar. The suspects, identified as three Thais and two men from Myanmar, face up to 15 years in prison on charges of elephant trafficking said Preecha Chalermpichai, the head forest ranger in the border district of Mae Sariang, wher...

trade

Thai ex-minister to face smuggling charge

2007-03-04 - Bangkok, Thailand.

At least five Thai baby elephants have recently been smuggled to Germany, a senior official at the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department revealed yesterday. The transportation was carried out at the beginning of the year by people claming to represent officials in high places, said Dulasit Sanitwongsa na Ayuthaya, a wildlife expert at the department. In other incidents, 20 elephants, all younger than nine, were smuggled to China and another eight were shipped to Australia, Du...

event

Thai couples mark Valentine"s Day with elephant-back and cliff-side weddings

2007-02-14 - BANGKOK, Thailand.

Thai couples marked Valentine's Day with weddings on elephant back and hanging off cliffs, while authorities warned young singles not to let the celebration of love lead them too far down the path of temptation. Twenty-eight couples — 22 of them including a foreign partner — celebrated their love by getting married on the backs of elephants in Surin province in northeastern Thailand.

conflict

Elephants robbing sugar cane trucks in Thailand

2007-01-30 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Forest rangers in Thailand have a new assignment, they're charged with patrolling a major highway to stop looters from attacking trucks carrying sugar cane. The robbers, wild elephants that live in the areas around the highway. Officials have imposed a night-time curfew on the highway used to transport sugar cane because of recent looting. Elephants have broken into dozens of trucks that have stopped along the route to eat the truck's sweat cargo.

event

Celebrations for Thailand King Bhumibol Adulyadejs 60th anniversary

2006-11-09 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Thai mahout practice elephant fighting in Bangkok November 9, 2006. The practice was held in preparation for celebrations for Thailand King Bhumibol Adulyadejs 60th anniversary on the throne. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

misc

An elephant is evacuated to dry ground as the Lopburi River floods into the Royal Elephant Kraal in the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya, 80km (50 miles) north of Bangkok

Central region flood woes raise PM"s concern

2006-10-04 - Bangkok, Thailand.

In Ayutthaya province, gradually rising waters forced mahouts to relocate all elephants in the ancient royal elephant corral to higher ground after barriers installed by the labour of the elephants themselves failed to withstand the strong currents. Most residents have been forced to travel by boats or have evacuated to other areas.

trade

Mr. Yongyut checks details on sending Thai elephants and Chimpanzees to China

2006-08-22 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Yongyut Tiyapairat is checking the details on sending five Thai elephants and chimpanzees to China. According to the deal, Thailand will deliver five Thai elephants and chimpanzees, while China will bring in white tigers and 14 other species of animals to the Night Safari in Chiang Mai Province

misc

Elephant polo heads for the hills

2006-08-19 - Bangkok, Thailand. ROGER CRUTCHLEY

The popular King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament is moving north to the Golden Triangle in Chiang Rai this year and promises to be the most entertaining and competitive contest so far. After being held the past five years in Hua Hin, chief organiser of the tournament and vice president of Anantara, Christopher Stafford, felt the time had come to hold the event on the northern border in Chiang Rai ''the home of elephants''.

welfare

Reforms urged to protect elephants in Thailand

2006-08-09 - Bangkok, Thailand. Jutarat Tongpiam

Leading academic and animal rights activists yesterday called for educational, social and legal reform to protect Thai elephants and return them to their former dignity. Their demands came at a seminar titled The Future of Thai Elephants: Nearing the End? organized by the Thai Environment Network following the controversial export of eight Thai elephants to Australia last month.

trade

Activists to sue Thai government for "illegal" animal trade of 8 elephants exported to Australia

2006-08-03 - Bangkok, Thailand. APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

A group of activists opposing the government's export of eight elephants to Australia plans to file a lawsuit against the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for transporting elephants overseas in alleged breach of the law. Pinan Chotiroseranee, president of the Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, said the suit, to be filed with the Administrative Court, will name as defendants the ministry, the Department of Natural Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, and the Zoological Park Organisat...

misc

Bangkok street elephants "need microchip implants" says Thai veterinarian

2006-07-10 - Bangkok, Thailand.

A senior Thai veterinarian said every elephant in the country should be implanted with a microchip to help protect the troubled pachyderm population. The Bangkok City authority wants to crack down on the hundreds of elephants and their panhandling mahouts who descend on the capital every year. The effort will be quickly abandoned because the authorities will soon despair of dealing with the heavyweight vagrants, predicted Alongkorn Mahannop, a vet sponsored by the Royal Household.

zoo

Much ado about eight elephants, says Taronga Zoo Director Guy Cooper

2006-07-10 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Claims by international animal rights groups that there is widespread opposition to the export of eight Thai elephants to state-owned zoos in Australia are a “breathtaking exaggeration,” one of the Australian zoo directors said yesterday. Taronga Zoo Director Guy Cooper said the claims were just a publicity stunt and insisted Australian zoos remain committed to elephant conservation.

welfare

Vet urges permanent plan to help street elephants in Bangkok

2006-07-07 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Vet Alongkorn Mahannop said Friday the government should amend laws to control movement of the animals to prevent them from being exploited by their mahouts, and criticised authorities related to the issue for failing to permanently prevent mahouts and elephants from roaming streets of Bangkok to beg. He estimated over 350 baby elephants have been made to roam streets to beg nationwide, and each year some 175 street elephants were reported injured in Bangkok.

trade

Australia postpones the delivery of four koalas to Thailand

2006-07-06 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Australia has postponed the delivery of koalas to Thailand until disputes over the true origins of eight Thai elephants to be sent to that country are settled. Sopon Damnui, director of the Zoological Park Organization, said four koalas were earlier scheduled to arrive in Bangkok yesterday but Australia has postponed the shipment until problems concerning the eight elephants can be solved.

relocation

Bangkok to remove begging elephants out of town

2006-07-06 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Officials in the Thai capital Bangkok rolled out big trucks today as they prepared to seize elephants brought in from the countryside to illegally roam the citys streets at night. The crackdown was the latest effort to keep the animals from blocking traffic, as well as to keep them and pedestrians safe as they wander the unfamiliar urban surroundings.

trade

Kenya and Australia suspend transfer of native animals to Thailand: Nairobi court to hear NGO"s plea; Koala deal stopped due to elephant blockade

2006-07-05 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Kenya and Australia have halted controversial wildlife deals with Thailand amid protests here and abroad. A Nairobi court has put a stop on the Kenyan Government's plan to export animals to Thailand pending the hearing of a case filed by a local non-government group. And Australian zoos have held up delivery of four koalas here after the transfer of eight Thai elephants to the country was blocked by protesters.

trade

Thai goods may face a boycott if problems concerning 8 elephants are not settled says WWF

2006-07-05 - Bangkok, Thailand.

World Wildlife Fund Thailand (WWFT) warns Thailand can be boycotted by other countries if it fails to make things clear about the status of eight elephants set to be shipped to an Australian zoo. The shipment has been suspended in the wake of protests by conservation groups which suspect the elephants are not domesticated but are from the wild. They demand the examination of DNA of those elephants but so far no action has been taken.

trade

DNA tests on elephants up to Thailand Interior Ministry - Rally for elephants appeals to Australians

2006-07-04 - Bangkok, Thailand. KULTIDA SAMABUDDHI

Protesters yesterday urged the Australian government to respect the right of Thai people to know the origin of eight Thai elephants being transferred to Australian zoos. About 50 conservationists and students from Kanchanaburi province, where the elephants have been kept, rallied at the Australian embassy in Bangkok to protest the export of the animals to Taronga Zoo in Sydney and Melbourne Zoo.

trade

No DNA tests for Thai elephants

2006-07-03 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Thailand's National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department on Monday reconfirmed its earlier rejection of requests for DNA testing to verify the demographic status of eight Thai elephants earmarked for Australian zoos, saying it will carry out the export of the pachyderms as planned. The elephants have certificates issued by Interior Ministry to prove they were bred in captivity and did not come from the wild.

trade

Friends of the Asian Elephant to ask Australian embassy in Bangkok to halt Thai elephant deal

2006-07-02 - Bangkok, Thailand.

The Thai non-governmental organization Friends of the Asian Elephant, working to protect elephants plans to petition the Australian embassy in Bangkok Monday, asking for its suspension of importing eight Thai elephants on an exchange programme until it can be proved that the Australia-bound elephants are home-bred, not from the wild.

welfare

NGO blocks shipment of elephants from Thailand to Australia

2006-06-28 - BANGKOK, Thailand.

A Kanchanaburi wildlife conservation group announced that it won't negotiate with the government and waits for the result of DNA testing to verify whether the Australia-bound elephants are home-bred or from the wild. The Kan Conservation Group has blocked the shipment of eight elephants to Australia on the grounds that the elephants may have been captured from the wild and may have difficulties adjusting to life in captivity.

welfare

Its tough for an elephant baby in the concrete jungle of Bangkok

2006-06-24 - Bangkok, Thailand. Connie Levett

OLE, a two-year-old Thai elephant, stands side-on to traffic in the middle of a four-lane street in central Bangkok, trunk swinging erratically as buses, taxis and motorbikes whiz past on either flank. For eight hours each night he walks through choking fumes, stopping only when a customer, Thai or tourist, buys a 20 baht (60 cent) bag of sugarcane to feed him and snap a photo. For the next few months, this will be his life.

medical

Thai government, UN to issue elephant care handbook

2006-01-18 - Bangkok, Thailand.

The Thai government plans to publish a handbook on elephant care in collaboration with a UN agency, the state-run Thai News Agency (TNA) disclosed. The guide, which will initially be published in Thai and English, aims at instructing mahouts (elephant minders) and zoos how to better diagnose pachyderm diseases and quickly seek appropriate veterinarian treatment for problems such as stomach aches. The project, a joint effort of Thailand's Forest Industry Organisation and the United Nations Food a...

trade

ASEAN countries pave way for worlds largest wildlife law enforcement network

2005-10-25 - Bangkok, Thailand.

In a strategic move to address the persistent criminal activity targeting South-east Asia's unique biological diversity, representatives from the 10 Member Countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed last week to form a regional law enforcement network to combat the illegal trade in animals and plants.

conservation

On conservation and elephants- With the future status of the Dong Payayen/Khao Yai forest complex in doubt, how are we to protect our elephants?

2005-09-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Thailand's forests are among the most biologically diverse on earth, and such biodiversity is the origin of many of our foods and medicines. In fact, the interaction between flora and fauna, and the conservation of this interaction, is of the utmost importance for the social well-being of Thailand.
So believes senator Kraisak Choonhavan, renowned throughout Thailand as the often candid senator for foreign affairs, and a well-known advocate of conservation and the protection of wildlife.

trade

Wanted: Homes for Thai Elephants

2005-09-19 - BANGKOK, Thailand.

They don't have to be housebroken because these pets won't fit in your home.
But not just anyone can own an elephant, says Laithongrian Meephan, 47, owner of the Ayutthaya Elephant Farm, 45 miles north of Bangkok, who is selling about 20 elephants between the ages of 1 1/2 to 3 years. Prices start at $48,700 apiece for the beasts, which he promises are well-bred, well-trained, well-behaved and a source of luck.

misc

Elephants prove they have close Thais to art

2005-07-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.

A SHOWCASE of work by young Thai artists - and elephants - will be unveiled in Edinburgh today. Vicky Khunapramot, a business graduate from Napier University, is pioneering the launch of the Capital's first Thai art exhibition. It will feature extraordinary abstract paintings by elephants from Northern Thailand's conservation parks. Ms Khunapramot said the elephants' contributions would reflect a "unique" aspect of Thai culture.

trade

Elephants stay put as fight continues

2005-07-21 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Eight elephants will stay in Thailand for at least another week while their fate is decided in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal(AAT). The AAT granted an interim order preventing the importation of the animals earmarked for Sydney's Taronga and Melbourne's zoos. The federal government gave the go-ahead for the beasts, who have been held in quarantine in Thailand for nine months, to be brought to Australia.

trade

Thai PM dragged into row over zoo elephant exports

2005-03-28 - Bangkok, Thailand. Connie Levett

Thailand's Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, has been accused of elephant diplomacy in the war of words over nine elephants destined for export to Australian zoos.

"Our Prime Minister promised the Australian government to give nine elephants; he has promised many countries," said Soraida Salwala, founder of Friends of the Asian Elephant.

event

Thai Elephant art into Guinnes book of records

2005-02-20 - Bangkok, Thailand. Sapa-AFP

It's rare enough when living artists fetch outrageous fortune for their work. When those modern-day Matisses are Thai elephants, however, they charge into the record books.

Eight elephants in northern Thailand have painted their way into the Guinness Book of World Records after an art lover living in the United States shelled out a jumbo 1,5 million baht (about R240 000) for their canvas creation - the highest price ever paid for elephant art.

The four-legged artist...

misc

MEET Diew the elephant - the world"s first potty-trained pachyderm.

2005-01-20 - Bangkok, Thailand. The Daily Telegraph

Visitors to a Thai elephant camp were treated to a call of nature with a difference yesterday, as five-year-old Diew demonstrated how to use and flush an oversized toilet.

The massive but immodest beast had no problem posing for the cameras as he went about his business.

Handlers at the camp, in northern Thailand's Chiang Mai province, have previously taught their elephants to paint, dance and play musical instruments.
But their latest feat is guaranteed to m...

conflict

Poaching Pachyderms Ambush Food Trucks in Eastern Thailand

2004-12-18 - Bangkok, Thailand. The Associated Press

Elephants in a wildlife sanctuary in eastern Thailand are using their
oversize bodies as road blocks, ambushing vehicles transporting sugar cane,
tapioca and fruit, the sanctuary's chief says.

The estimated 200 elephants in the Khao-Ang Rue-Ni sanctuary turn desperate
and wily in the dry season, when water and food supplies shrink. It's then
that the animals stage their heists, Yuo Senatham said.

misc

A Saviour for Asian Elephants

2004-10-23 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Sonny Inbaraj

Every creature, from a louse to a lyrebird, is a marvel of nature. But some marvels are just more marvellous than others - and none more so than an elephant. Consider this animal again and all it shares with us. Elephants live sixty to eighty years, the same span as humans.

trade

14th CITES conference finished in Bangkok: CITES takes action to promote sustainable wildlife management and combat illegal trade

2004-10-14 - Bangkok, Thailand. CITES

A two-week meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will close here today after agreeing decisions to strengthen wildlife management, combat illegal trafficking and update the trade rules for a wide range of plant and animal species.

medical

Vets in Thailand Pull Aching Tusk

2004-10-14 - BANGKOK, Thailand. AP

If a toothache is bad, just imagine what a tusk ache must feel like. So pity the poor three-ton bull elephant Kamsaen, whose four months of agony finally came to an end when veterinarians extracted a partially cut tusk which had become infected.

trade

Southafrica Votes to Lift 20 year Global Ivory Ban

2004-10-12 - Bangkok, Thailand. Business Day

Southafrica, along with the rest of the southern African countries at a global wildlife conference in Thailand, voted against Kenya's proposal to place a 20 year moratorium on ivory trading yesterday.

trade

Whales, Elephants Saved From Commercial Killers

2004-10-12 - Bangkok, Thailand. Ranjit Devraj

The world's 'flagship species' on land and sea, whales and elephants, won a reprieve on Tuesday from commercial exploitation at a major conservation conference in Thailand's capital.

conservation

Thais Face Jumbo Dilemma in Conserving Elephants

2004-10-12 - Bangkok, Thailand. Sasithorn Simaporn, Reuters

Elephants kicking soccer balls, painting flowers with
their trunks, or twirling a hula-hoop are a common sight in Thailand, where
the sacred warrior beasts perform in tourist shows or peddle fruits on the
streets of Bangkok.

trade

China Seen as Biggest Driver of Ivory Market

2004-10-11 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Ed Stoddard, Reuters

Booming demand in China is the biggest driver of the
illegal ivory market and there is no clear link between allowing regulated
legal trade and a rise in black market supplies, a report to a U.N.
conference said on Monday.

trade

CITES RESOLUTE-NO IVORY TRADE

2004-10-11 - Bangkok, Thailand. Species Survival Network

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted in a late night session to deny Namibia an annual quota of 2,000kg of raw ivory and an unlimited quantity of worked ivory jewelry, known as “ekipas.” The decision could have serious, long-term, and positive implications for elephant conservation across Africa.

trade

Plan for African Ivory Markets A Victory for Elephants, Says World Wildlife Fund

2004-10-08 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Jan Vertefeuille, Sarah Janicke - WWF

World Wildlife Fund and TRAFFIC applaud African
countries who today announced a continent-wide action plan to crack down on
their domestic ivory markets, calling it a major victory for elephant
conservation.

trade

Kenya says ivory sales endanger poacher hunters

2004-10-07 - Bangkok, Thailand. Ed Stoddard, Reuters

Kenya is on the front line of the "wildlife wars"
and says its men in the trenches will be at risk if a U.N. conference
approves a Namibian bid to sell more ivory.

conservation

Khao Yai gets SE Asia"s first wildlife protection training centre

2004-10-07 - Bangkok, Thailand. MCOT News

Khao Yai National Park is to become home to the first training centre for wildlife protection officials in Southeast Asia, the Minister for Natural Resources and Environment announced, Suwit Khunkitti, today.

trade

Ivory from extinct mammoths in big demand

2004-10-06 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Ed Stoddard, Reuters

Ivory from the tusks of extinct mammoths is being used
as a legal substitute for the stuff provided by its living elephant kin, but
poor quality and a finite supply means it will never replace it, experts
say.

trade

EU opposes whaling, undecided on ivory at CITES

2004-10-05 - BANGKOK, Thailand. Ed Stoddard, Reuters

The European Union looked set on Tuesday to
harpoon a Japanese bid to resume commercial trade in whale products, but has
yet to take a stand on a Namibian attempt to loosen restrictions on ivory
sales.

trade

13th CITES meeting kicks off

2004-10-02 - Bangkok, Thailand. MCOT News

The 13th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to CITES kicked off in Bangkok today.

It is the first time that a CITES meetng is held in the Southeast Asian region.

smuggle

Thailand"s legal ivory trade a smokescreen for smuggled African tusks

2004-10-01 - BANGKOK, Thailand. AFP

In the heart of Bangkok's bustling Chinatown, shops filled with tourist trinkets and antiques hide an illegal multi-million dollar ivory trade that environmentalists warn is destroying global elephant populations.
Inside a cluttered tourist gift shop, an AFP reporter posing as a buyer asked to see banned African ivory and after a heated debate between the shop's two owners was shown smuggled tusks apparently hacked from the head of a slaughtered elephant.

trade

NGOs accuse Thai politicians of involvement in wildlife trade

2004-10-01 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Conservationists yesterday took a stab at the Thai government, accusing senior national politicians of involvement in the illegal trade in endangered species, while calling for a ban on Thai elephant exports.

event

Surin rally to raise funds for elephants

2004-09-27 - Bangkok, Thailand. MCOT News

The north-eastern province of Surin, famed for its annual elephant round-ups, is to conduct its second elephant rally this year to help raise funds for Thai elephants.

medical

Toothless elephant gets set of dentures

2004-01-07 - Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok Post

A toothless old elephant who was slowly starving to death has been fitted with a set of specially made dentures in what could be the first in the world.

The U-shaped denture, 15cm wide and 15cm long, is made of stainless steel, silicone and plastic. It was developed especially for Morakot, an 80-year-old cow elephant at the Chang Phuan Kaeo elephant ground in Kanchanaburi province.

research

The global population of Asian elephants, like this one at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., is estimated to total 35,000-50,000.

Asian Elephant Insemination Plan. Researchers Hope To Boost Dwindling Global Population

2003-12-16 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Thai researchers will try to artificially inseminate a group of Asian elephants next month in a bid to boost numbers, a scientist working on the project said Tuesday. They will use samples stored at an experimental elephant sperm bank and are monitoring the beasts to work out the right time for conception in the northern towns of Lampang and Chiang Mai, said Mungkorn Damyang of Kasetsart University.

misc

Thai Elephant Orchestra

2002-09-11 - Bangkok, Thailand. Prentiss Riddle

BoingBoing links to the website of the allegedly musical Thai Elephant Orchestra and says, "The elephants not only play with the instruments, they play together on them, jamming in what is clearly recognizable as music." Of course, if we accept John Cage's assertion that noise can be music, the question is not whether elephants can play music but whether elephants can play music that shows signs of (non-random) musical thought.

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20 years on Internet!

ELEPHANT NEWS was created on 2001 in Munich, and relaunched in Phnom Penh in 2020, with almost 8 000 links to news articles about elephants on the Internet

A number of articles now also have a cross reference to the elephant database, either for individuals elephants and/or to an article about the location holding

In the right column, you can also see if an elephant has birthday today, and follow the link to more facts!

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death

Mali, the Philippines’ lone elephant, dies after more than 4 decades

2023-11-28 - Manila, Philippines.

Mali, the country’s lone elephant, confined in a Manila Zoo enclosure for over four decades, died on Tuesday. In a social media address, Manila Mayor Honey Lacuña said Vishwamali, commonly known as...

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death

Four-year-old elephant dies in zoo - herpes virus

2023-11-23 - Hamburg, Germany.

A young elephant at Hagenbeck Zoo has died within just two days, probably due to a herpes virus infection. Despite constant monitoring and treatment by the zoo vets, all measures were unsuccessful, th...

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medical

Maryland Zoo Elephant Survives Deadly Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus

2023-11-21 - Baltimore, United States.

Thanks to early detection and intensive therapy, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Md., announced that its 15-year-old African bull elephant, Samson, has survived an episode of a strain of the Elephant E...

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Facts about the Elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus

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Facts about the Elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus

conference

19th International Elephant Conservation and Research Symposium

2023-11-14 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The International Elephant Foundation, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Chiang Mai University, the National Elephant Institute, and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Kasetsart University happily an...

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birth

Critically endangered Sumatran elephant born in Indonesia

2023-11-13 - Way Kambas, Indonesia.

A critically endangered Sumatran elephant was born in western Indonesia over the weekend, according to officials, weighing about 108 kilograms (238 pounds), the yet-to-be-named male calf was born at ...

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death

Donna, Saint Louis Zoo elephant, euthanized after health decline

2023-11-10 - , United States.

Donna, an Asian elephant at the Saint Louis Zoo, was euthanized Thursday morning after her health saw a rapid decline, the zoo announced. She was 52. Donna was born in the wild and arrived at the zoo ...

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relocation

Cincinnati Zoo’s Asian Elephant Herd Just Got a Lot Bigger!

2023-11-08 - Cincinnati, United States.

Four Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), two adult females and their young male calves, arrived at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden on Sunday, November 5. The new elephants, SheRa, Kabir, Anak, an...

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welfare

Pakistan’s Last Female African Elephant to Be Relocated from Karachi Zoo

2023-11-03 - Karachi, Pakistan.

International animal welfare organization FOUR PAWS has initiated efforts to relocate Madhubala from Karachi Zoo to Safari Park, where she will join fellow elephants Sonia and Malika. A training sessi...

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death

Elephant collapses, dies while training at elephant camp at Bandipur Tiger Reserve

2023-11-01 - Bandipur, India. Vartha Bharati

In a tragic incident, an elephant named Vinayaka, also known as Akkiraja, residing at the Rampura elephant camp in the Bandipur tiger reserve, passed away on Tuesday. The sudden demise occurred after ...

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death

The Elephant Sanctuary announces the passing of African elephant Jana

2023-10-25 - Hohenwald, United States.

The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee announces the passing of African elephant Jana at the age of 43. Jana was The Sanctuary’s 31st resident. In recent weeks, Jana's declining health and reduced mobi...

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birth

In rare incident, female elephant Netravathi delivers baby on Dasara procession day

2023-10-24 - Shivamogga, India.

In a rare incident, Netravathi, a female elephant, which had been brought from the Sakrebaiu camp to Shivamogga, for the Jumboo Savari to be held on Vijayadashami festival day (today), delivered a fem...

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conference

44th Annual EMA conference

2023-10-02 - Fort Worth, United States.

The Elephant Managers Association (EMA) is proud to announce the dates for our 44th annual conference, hosted by both the Fort Worth Zoo and Dallas Zoo on October 2 to 5, 2023. The conference will inc...

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death

Oldest captive elephant in Malaysia dies

2023-09-10 - Temerloh, Malaysia.

The female elephant, which died at the Kuala Gandah National Elephant Conservation Centre (PKGK) in Lanchang, was brought to the country from Assam, India in 1974. Lokimala was brought to this country...

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birth

Nong Nooch Pattaya celebrates fourth elephant birth this year

2023-08-28 - Pattaya, Thailand.

Following Thai tradition, the offspring of Pang Sarai, 22, and Plai Ningnong, 27, was named ‘Plai Boonmak,’ symbolizing ‘Abundant Merit.’ This ceremony expressed heartfelt wishes for the well-...

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misc

Baby elephant at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo officially named

2023-08-26 - Omaha, United States.

The baby elephant at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo officially has a name; Amandra. Pronounced “ah-MON-dra,” the name means “strong woman.” The zoo said it was chosen by a donor and their family. ...

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death

Melbourne Zoo herd grieving after nine-year-old elephant dies

2023-08-24 - Melbourne, Australia.

Melbourne Zoo’s nine-year-old elephant Man Jai has died after a sudden illness. The Asian elephant was diagnosed with an incurable disease on Monday after zookeepers noticed lethargy and swelling in...

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event

Preparations At Palace To House Dasara Elephants

2023-08-22 - Mysore, India.

Preparations are in full swing at the Mysore Palace premises ahead of the arrival of the Dasara elephants. The jumbos will camp here for approximately two months, undergoing training and consuming nut...

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misc

Poisoned watermelon given to elephant

2023-08-21 - Kataragama, Sri Lanka.

An individual who fed a poisoned watermelon to an elephant called “ Asela” of the Kataragama Abhinawarama temple was taken into custody by the Kataragama police on saturday. However, Veterinary S...

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conservation

How elephant populations are being controlled using contraceptives

2023-08-21 - Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Contraceptives are now being successfully used to prevent elephant overpopulation in South Africa. Approximately 75% of all breeding-age female elephants outside of the greater Kruger National Park ha...

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Elephant Contraception

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Elephant Contraception

birth

Baby Elephant Born at Sapporo Maruyama Zoo

2023-08-21 - Sapporo, Japan.

19-year-old Asian elephant Pearl and her newborn baby stand together at the Sapporo Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo. According to the zoo, this is the first time in Japan that an Asian elephant has been born ...

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