Myanmar to burn seized wildlife parts at Yangon Zoo

The government will burn elephant tusks and other wildlife parts worth US$1.1 million (K1.66 billion) that were seized over the past year, a senior Forest Department official said.

U Win Naing Thaw, director of Nature and Wildlife Conservation at the department, said the parts will be burned at Yangon Zoo on Sunday.

“Besides elephant parts, there are other animal parts such as horns,” he said, adding that together they weigh more than 700 kilogrammes.

There is especially high demand in Myanmar’s illegal wildlife trade for elephants, turtles, snakes, pangolins and bears.

The burning of the parts is aimed at raising public awareness of the damage wrought by the illegal wildlife trade on the environment and animals.

“I regret the burning of the wildlife parts, but I feel sorrier for the live animals that are traded illegally,” U Win Naing Thaw said. “It is illegal to sell these parts on the black market, so they are being burned.”

Several countries have resorted to burning illegal wildlife parts in the campaign to eliminate the trade.

“The action aims to prevent the making of wildlife cuisine and other things,” said Yangon Region’s Forest Department Director U Thein Toe.

Elephant poaching remains rampant in Bago, Ayeyarwady, and Yangon regions.

Myanmar began burning wildlife parts in Nay Pyi Taw in October 2018, when 277 ivory pieces, 227 elephant bones and other animals, 45 animal hides, 1544 animal horns, 45.5kg of pangolin scales, and 128 other parts were destroyed.

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Poachers feed China trade, threaten country’s elephants

Following a tip-off by villagers in early May, U Sai Nyi Nyi rushed to the forest in Kyauk Gyi village in Thabeikkyin township of Mandalay Region and found the remains of a dead female elephant. Her tusks and trunk had been cut off and her skin peeled off the right side of her body.

Elephant poachers hastily left when the villagers arrived. Such activity has become common in Thabeikkyin, where poachers in groups of five or more, impersonating wood cutters and armed with guns, enter the forest in search of prey.



“They usually stay in the jungle for many days,” U Sai Nyi Nyi, a member of the township wildlife conservation team, said. Her group has been raising awareness among villagers near the forest to help them protect wildlife from poachers.

He said the poachers first drive the elephants into a desired location and then shoot them with poisoned arrows or guns. Then they follow the wounded elephant till it falls dead, which may take two or more days.



The elephants, sensing danger, go near the villages, as poachers tend to avoid shooting them near populated areas. Wild elephants sometimes enter the fields near the villages apparently to seek refuge, U Sai Nyi Nyi said.

Demand for elephant skin has rapidly risen since last year, according to a study by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Myanmar. Many Chinese still believe that elephant skin can cure skin diseases and gastritis. It is also used in making jewellery. The increasing demand from China for elephant parts has led to the killing of more elephants in Myanmar.

“Elephant trunk is also said to be medicinal and has become a target,” Daw Sapai Min, WWF Myanmar project manager, said.

The demand for skin has endangered not only male tusked elephants but also females and their young.

“There is no scientific proof that it cures these diseases,” WWF Myanmar Senior Conservation Biologist U Paing Soe said.

Wild elephants are common in Ayeyarwady, Mandalay, Yangon, Bago, Rakhine and Kayin regions and states, but most of the killings happen in Ayeyarwady.


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Hunters prey on wild elephants in Yoma

Elephant hunters are targetting the Rakhine Yoma elephant sanctuary, which is considered one of the last remaining safe havens for wild elephants in Myanmar.

Approximately 100 wild elephants inhabit the sanctuary, but this area is being threatened by brutal attacks on wild elephants nationwide, according to conservationists.


“This sanctuary is a refuge for the remaining wild elephants.” said U Aung Kyaw, wildlife trade coordinator of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

“In 2011 and 2012, it was a good place for wild elephants, but there were elephant killings on occasion in the sanctuary,” he added.


According to a WCS statement released on Monday, a hunter was arrested on April 2 for killing a wild elephant in the sanctuary.

Authorities are still hunting for three other people involved in the killing of the elephant, the statement said.

About 114.1 kilograms of elephant parts, such as dried trunk, skin and meat were recovered recently in the area, according to the Forest Department.

“It is a rare case in this sanctuary. And we can say it is the first time an elephant was killed in this area,” said U San Win, administrator of the sanctuary. “Four people were arrested, including a local resident.”

U San Win said there are 24 staff in the sanctuary and 17 of them regularly patrol the area.

“We have very few people and we can’t cover all of the area. If we had enough staff and we could cooperate with the police to stop wildlife hunting in the area,” he added.

The sanctuary is a very important haven for wild elephants and other rare species of wild animals but if they cannot be protected, they will face extinction, according to U San Win. The wildlife reserve, located in a remote area of the Rakhine Yoma range in southwest Myanmar. It comprises 39,332 square kilometres, is very difficult to access, and is one of the biggest elephant habitats.

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