The Elephants Umbrella Fund


	World Elephant News Check Back Often for the Latest World News Concerning Asian Elephants June - July Sri Lanka officials claim they are seeking harmony between elephants and humans. However, currently massive illegal construction activities prevail in the largest national park in Sri Lanka. Ample political support and manpower provided by the Sri Lanka Navy bolster this ecological vandalism to continue. The number of trees destroyed and animals killed in this enormous demolition is inestimable. Hunters are thriving also as no restrictions are imposed on hunting. The most photographed and well known national park is under human assault but countless villages are feeling similar pressures but from elephants. Again this goes back to lack of planning and caring by the government. Villages have been allowed to move into many of the restricted reserves or have encroached into national parks. The elephants are being squeezed into smaller and smaller areas. When their natural food supply is diminished they seek sustenance from the crops planted next to their home territory. The villagers retaliate by shooting, poisoning and electrocutions. One official estimates that an average of three to four elephants are killed each week and an average of one person is killed by wild elephants each week. Sri Lanka is just one of many countries facing the dilemma of man vs elephant. Unfortunately in most cases man will be the winner unless there is a massive commitment by governments to recognize the problem and come up with viable and immediate solutions. Going Going Gone Once long ago, thousands of elephants roamed China, today there are less than 300 left in the jungles of southern China. 3,000 to 4,000 years ago elephants lived as far north as Beijing. The animals are suffering the same problems in all Asian countries. Lost of habitat due to population growth and lost of habitat for agriculture, industry or rubber plantations. The forest trees that the elephants rely on for food have been decimated and migration routes are hampered by highways, villages and industrial developments. Farmers in the southeast corner of China where the elephants live are being given alternate ways to raise money by raising chicken and peas which the animals would not destroy. The villagers are helping the project by providing salt licks and guiding researcher's when they have to track the elephants in the forest. In many cases the only way to minimize conflict between human and animal is to involve the people and suggest different ways to raise cash. Overdue New Laws Thailand's government has finally taken steps to suspend for at least five years the exporting of elephants. A new registration process for captive animals is being developed. Better records on birth dates and new ID cards are being worked on. The government hopes to stem the tide of wild elephant exports with the ID system. It is estimated that there are about 3,000 elephants living in the wild and another possible 3,000 on farms. The new system will keep poachers from taking elephants from the wild and domesticating them so they can be traded legally over seas. Finally the government is addressing vitally needed changes in the existing elephant law. Rise In Poaching In Bangkok a ton of Ugandan ivory has just been impounded in the largest seizure of illegal ivory. Over 10 elephants would have killed to get that tonnage of ivory. Every agency in both countries are passing the buck for who is responsible, The trade in ivory was banned by CITES and was working well for years until it allowed South Africa and Zimbabwe last year to export ivory, citing an elephant population explosion in the area. Since then poaching has risen sharply. News Bitts and Pieces A technique allowing scientists to “fingerprint” elephants DNA from dung samples has revolutionized animals censuses. The wild population of elephants in Cambodia is undetermined, with this new technique it was discovered there were 116 animals not just 30 or 40 as previously estimated in just one area alone. A very strong demand has been made in Indonesia that police and military forces work together to end the poaching and trafficking in Sumatra of wild animals. If the law was enforced it is believed the poaching would be drastically reduced and efforts are being made to see this happens as the killings have increased. In Nepal a team of experts have discovered 40,000 and 24,000 year old footprints of elephants, which suggests that the animal lived in the Kathmandu valley tens of thousands of years ago. The conclusion was reached after measuring the age of the footprints and sediments with carbon dating.

World Elephant News

Check Back Often for the Latest World News Concerning Asian Elephants

June - July

Sri Lanka officials claim they are seeking harmony between elephants and humans. However, currently massive illegal construction activities prevail in the largest national park in Sri Lanka. Ample political support and manpower provided by the Sri Lanka Navy bolster this ecological vandalism to continue. The number of trees destroyed and animals killed in this enormous demolition is inestimable. Hunters are thriving also as no restrictions are imposed on hunting. The most photographed and well known national park is under human assault but countless villages are feeling similar pressures but from elephants. Again this goes back to lack of planning and caring by the government. Villages have been allowed to move into many of the restricted reserves or have encroached into national parks. The elephants are being squeezed into smaller and smaller areas. When their natural food supply is diminished they seek sustenance from the crops planted next to their home territory. The villagers retaliate by shooting, poisoning and electrocutions. One official estimates that an average of three to four elephants are killed each week and an average of one person is killed by wild elephants each week. Sri Lanka is just one of many countries facing the dilemma of man vs elephant. Unfortunately in most cases man will be the winner unless there is a massive commitment by governments to recognize the problem and come up with viable and immediate solutions.

Going Going Gone

Once long ago, thousands of elephants roamed China, today there are less than 300 left in the jungles of southern China. 3,000 to 4,000 years ago elephants lived as far north as Beijing. The animals are suffering the same problems in all Asian countries. Lost of habitat due to population growth and lost of habitat for agriculture, industry or rubber plantations. The forest trees that the elephants rely on for food have been decimated and migration routes are hampered by highways, villages and industrial developments. Farmers in the southeast corner of China where the elephants live are being given alternate ways to raise money by raising chicken and peas which the animals would not destroy. The villagers are helping the project by providing salt licks and guiding researcher's when they have to track the elephants in the forest. In many cases the only way to minimize conflict between human and animal is to involve the people and suggest different ways to raise cash.

Overdue New Laws

Thailand's government has finally taken steps to suspend for at least five years the exporting of elephants. A new registration process for captive animals is being developed. Better records on birth dates and new ID cards are being worked on. The government hopes to stem the tide of wild elephant exports with the ID system. It is estimated that there are about 3,000 elephants living in the wild and another possible 3,000 on farms. The new system will keep poachers from taking elephants from the wild and domesticating them so they can be traded legally over seas. Finally the government is addressing vitally needed changes in the existing elephant law.

Rise In Poaching

In Bangkok a ton of Ugandan ivory has just been impounded in the largest seizure of illegal ivory. Over 10 elephants would have killed to get that tonnage of ivory. Every agency in both countries are passing the buck for who is responsible, The trade in ivory was banned by CITES and was working well for years until it allowed South Africa and Zimbabwe last year to export ivory, citing an elephant population explosion in the area. Since then poaching has risen sharply.

News Bitts and Pieces

A technique allowing scientists to “fingerprint” elephants DNA from dung samples has revolutionized animals censuses. The wild population of elephants in Cambodia is undetermined, with this new technique it was discovered there were 116 animals not just 30 or 40 as previously estimated in just one area alone.

A very strong demand has been made in Indonesia that police and military forces work together to end the poaching and trafficking in Sumatra of wild animals. If the law was enforced it is believed the poaching would be drastically reduced and efforts are being made to see this happens as the killings have increased.

In Nepal a team of experts have discovered 40,000 and 24,000 year old footprints of elephants, which suggests that the animal lived in the Kathmandu valley tens of thousands of years ago. The conclusion was reached after measuring the age of the footprints and sediments with carbon dating.