Myanmar And The Elephant Project Made History By Signing Agreement For Elephant's Care

The Myanmar government and The Elephant Project signed a new historical agreement that aimed to relocate elephants into a safer place, avoiding human conflicts. It was the first time the country made a settlement for the care of this animal after the government-owned elephants were turned into an attraction and forced to perform in parks, following the ban of raw timber export in 2014.

"We have to take action now," Dane Waters, The Elephant Project founder, and president, said, per the South China Morning Post. The worsening case of deforestation in Myanmar destroys Elephants' habitat, so they are left wandering in villages in search of food. However, their search often leads to human-elephant conflicts that put both parties in danger.

Under the new agreement, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation and The Elephant Project's forest department will look for elephants that need to be moved. They also have to find a place where they can be safely relocated.

The Elephant Project will begin relocating 10 to 15 elephants to designated safe zones. However, the organization has bigger plans to build a sanctuary that will be home to Myanmar's many captive elephants. About 5,520 gentle giants live in captivity, which are almost two folds of the 3,000 estimated elephants that live in the wild.

"Our sanctuary plan is different to any that has ever been built before," Waters said. If it happens, it will be the biggest sanctuary ever constructed and may hold up to 3,000 elephants.

There will be different investment opportunities to fund the sanctuary project. It includes ethical elephant experiences and eco-friendly stays near the shelter. Waters assured that these things would be built with the elephants' welfare in mind. "Investment is going into protecting elephants," he said.

Freelance documentary photographer Ko Myo revealed elephants' story in Myanmar is a sad one. According to The Irrawaddy, he saw how people treated these animals when wild elephants passed by a town in Kyaukpadaung, Mandalay Region.

About six elephants from the Bago mountain range wandered into Kyaukpadaung Township. When villagers saw them, they came together and used tame elephants to force them to change their director. They went back to their habitat in the mountains, where elephant poaching usually happened.

If wild elephants continuously lost their habitat, there will be more conflict with humans and illegal trading. Hence, their species may disappear in Myanmar.

Ko Ye Min Thwin, Senior Communications Officer at WWF Myanmar, said Ko Myo's photos could help people to know more about elephants. "They are lovely and worth protecting; that we should value them and they don't deserve to be killed," he added. The photographer, on the other hand, disclosed that the only solution to solve this problem is to raise awareness and urge people to stop using products made of animals' part.

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Authorities take aim at illegal wildlife trade

Myanmar's rich biodiversity continues to be damaged by illegal trade and the killing of elephants and other wild animals.

Of the over 20 wild elephants that died from January through September, 17 were killed by poachers, according to the Forest Department.

More than 46 elephants were slaughtered last year, and poachers killed 84 of the 165 wild elephants that died from 2010 to 2017, it said.

Most of the poaching occurred in Ayeyarwady and Yangon regions. In Ayeyarwady, poachers killed five of the seven wild elephants that died, while in Yangon, they killed three of the four wild elephants that died from January to September.

The wild elephants were killed for their ivory, teeth, skin and trunks, said wildlife conservation activists.

  U Win Naing Thaw, director of the department’s Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division, said that poaching of elephants has declined slightly.

“This year, there were 17 poaching cases and arrests of 42 people for killing wild elephants and illegal trade of elephant parts,” he said.

“Illegal trading is less than in previous years, as people are more aware of the problem and are cooperating more,” said U Win Naing Thaw.

There are an estimated 1400 to 2000 elephants in the country, but the numbers could be lower, according to elephant conservation groups.

Local and foreign conservationists have conducted education programmes to raise awareness of the problem.

Some laws were amended this year in an effort to reduce elephant poaching and illicit wildlife trade.

The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (bicameral legislature) enacted the amended 1992 Forestry Law on September 20, and the Protection of Biodiversity and Conservation Areas Law replaced the 1994 Protection of Wildlife and Conservation of Natural Areas Law on May 21.

The department expressed confidence that the new laws will reduce the illegal wildlife trade, especially in Yangon.

The Yangon City Development Committee has carried out an education campaign to raise awareness about the illegal wildlife and products trade in the city’s markets.

Aside from elephants, other animal parts traded in the illicit business include those from tigers, bears, pangolins, rhinos, mountain goats, Indian pied hornbills, gaurs, leopards, tortoises and snakes.

To demonstrate their seriousness about the campaign against the illegal trade, the government incinerated ivory and other wildlife parts worth US$1.3 million in Nay Pyi Taw in October.

In the first action of its kind for Myanmar, the government destroyed 277 pieces of ivory, 227 elephant and animal bones, 45 animal skins, 1544 animal horns, 45.5 kilogrammes of pangolin scales and 128 parts of other animals.

What effect these actions will have on the illegal wildlife trade remains to be seen, according to experts.

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Elephants now in demand for their skin

Recent times have seen the emergence of a dangerous trend that would adversely affect elephant populations everywhere. This is the growing demand for the skins of elephants, especially, of the Asian elephant.

A study, started by an England-based non-governmental organisation called the Elephant Family, has made some startling revelations in this respect. They have carried out a detailed survey of the illegal elephant skin trade that has been in operation since 2014, the results of which are now documented in a publication called ‘Skinned - The growing appetite for Asian elephants’.

The trade in elephant skin products seems to have started in about 2006 in Myanmar, and has now attained a steady annual growth. The skin of an elephant is used to manufacture beads, powdered skin, pieces of treated skin, etc. The powder is used in Chinese-based traditional medicine and pharmaceutical processes which sell under Elephant Skin Powder. Initially, powdered elephant skin was sold as an ingredient in traditional medicine. Thereafter, a new trend emerged where dried elephant skin was carved and polished into prayer beads and other Chinese collectibles with traders extolling the qualities of the blood red hue in the translucent subcutaneous layers.

Elephants are killed, and the skin removed in strips or in large square chunks. Whatever the method used, a large part of the skin not suitable for processing, is left and wasted. There seems to be no justification for killing an elephant for a small part of its skin.

The skin pachydera of an elephant, is 1.9 - 3.2 cm thick. It is thickest on the hind limbs and hindquarters, thinner on the forelimbs and shoulders, and is thinnest on the inside of the ears and around the mouth and anus. The skin though thick is sensitive. The colour of the skin is dark greyish black over most of the body but lighter on the head, trunk and ears. Though the elephant’s skin seems to be tough, it is sensitive in certain areas and susceptible to the ravages of heat and insect pests. Since the skin of an elephant is thick it cannot cool its body easily The warm blood cools as it circulates through the veins in the ear, due to the thin layer of skin that covers the ear. The cooled blood then circulates back into the body, helping reduce the overall body temperature of the elephant. Even though the Asian is the preferred elephant species, skin from the African species is also used. If the skin is needed from a particular part of the body, then the elephant killings will unnecessarily destroy more elephants than are actually needed for the illegal trade.

There is little doubt that the skin trade is alive and is a developing threat to Asian elephants across their range. The Asian elephant is found in the wild in thirteen range states. Their total number has been estimated at between 35,000 and 45,000. In the last century an estimated 90 percent population loss was recorded across their 13 range state, with habitat loss being the main threat. Over 15,000 Asian elephants are held in captivity around the world in zoos, entertainment centres, private ownership and trekking camps.

History has shown that poaching and wildlife trafficking spreads rapidly across countries and continents. The growing number of skin poaching incidents in Myanmar, and the spread of trade across Myanmar, Laos and China shows that this is already happening. Traffickers are actively developing new ways to market elephant skin products, and are selling them to apparently willing customers.

However, the wild elephants in Sri Lanka are not at risk of the demand for elephant skins for the production of ornaments and medicinal powders. The skin trade is in Myanmar where there are plenty of wild elephants. Even so we must be vigilant to ensure that no elephants are poached for the skin trade in the future.

The populations of both, the African and Asian species of elephants are threatened due to conflicts with people, habitat loss and poaching for their ivory. However, the Asian species are also threatened by the illicit live trade for the entertainment industry and the recent poaching for the illegal trade in their skins. The entertainment industry consists mainly of circuses, where elephants are a great attraction.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) through the Convention in Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has recommended that, “All elephant range states have in place legislative, regulatory, enforcement, or other measures to prevent the illegal trade in live elephants”.

Videos posted on marketing sites show images of backyards in Myanmar and Laos being used by traders to carve up chunks of elephant skin, remove the coarse hair with blow-torches and dry it in ovens before grinding it into a fine powder.

The most effective way in which this trade could at least be reduced, if not stopped altogether, is for people not to purchase elephant skin products or ivory products.

However, this would not be a solution if man’s greed to have these items continue. If on the other hand, there is no market or demand for elephant products the elephant will have only an aesthetic value and not a commercial value.

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Yangon Strives to Rid City of Illegal Wildlife Trade

The Yangon Region Forest Department is working with international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) to designate Yangon as the first city in Southeast Asia free of the illegal wildlife trade. Director U Thein Toe recently sat down with The Irrawaddy’s Thazin Hlaing to discuss what steps the department was taking to fight the illegal wildlife trade in Myanmar’s commercial capital.

The Forest Department has educated souvenir shops about preventing wildlife trade in Yangon. Has it taken action against any violators?

We haven’t for the time being. But to prevent elephant poaching, we are cooperating with partner INGOs such as the World Wildlife Fund and the Wildlife Society Organization as well as the Myanmar Timber Enterprise, Forestry Police and Myanmar Police Force. Combined teams of those officials including ward and village administrators conduct regular patrols in the forests. As the Protection of Biodiversity and Conservation Areas Law has been enacted, we have plans to make Yangon free of the illegal wildlife trade.

Is Yangon the first in Myanmar to declare a no-illegal wildlife trade zone?

We have been working on it. Other cities will also follow suit. The law is in effect across the country.

What will the difficulties be? Do you think the idea is feasible?

Yangon is the city that receives the most international travelers to Myanmar. Travelers come to Yangon both by air and by ship. So there is more illegal wildlife trade compared to other cities. We want to ban the making of souvenirs and handicrafts with animal parts that are smuggled into Yangon from various parts of the country.

Since last year, we have educated souvenir shops that usually sell souvenirs made of animal parts at Bogyoke Market as well as Shwedagon Pagoda to stop selling them. And we have also done the same with restaurants that sell wildlife meat. And we assume we have educated them enough to stop selling them. And as a new law has been enacted, we have issued a warning that we will take harsh action against violations.

What action will be taken?

The law sets a minimum imprisonment of three years and a maximum imprisonment of 10 years for hunting and illegally trading wildlife protected under by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which Myanmar is a signatory. So if someone is found guilty, he will be imprisoned.

Fines can also be imposed. But it depends on the thinking and decision of the judge. The advantage of this law is that it fully protects endangered wildlife species that are listed by CITES.

What are the fully protected wildlife species?

For example, elephants, tigers, bears and pangolins. Among bird species, peacocks and hornbills are fully protected. And among reptiles, pythons and so on are fully protected.

How many souvenir shops and restaurants sell wildlife parts and meat in Yangon?

Souvenir shops at Shwedagon Pagoda and Bogyoke Market sell souvenirs made of wildlife parts, and the rest are restaurants. There are a certain number of them in town. I don’t want to disclose details.

What things are found most on the market?

Barking deer, sambar and snake meat are usually eaten. And lucky charms and handicrafts made of elephant tusks, tiger teeth and boar tusks are sold. Selling those things amounts to illegal wildlife trade. Even toys made of animal parts are part of the illegal wildlife trade.

What is the cause of the extinction of wildlife and flora?
The main cause is humans. Because they are rare things, rich foreigners buy them at high prices to consume or make medicine and cosmetics from them. So they are hunted to the brink of extinction.

Previously, wild elephants were poached for their tusks. But now they are hunted also for their trunks, hide and meat. So every part of an elephant is sold on the illegal market now. This is due to the demand from the neighboring country [China].

Are all animal parts sold on the market in Yangon illegal? Is some part of the business legal?

There is a law regarding this. Some people have private elephants. If those elephants die of disease or old age, the owners have to inform the nearest forest department, whose vet will check the cause of death and issue a death certificate along with a documentary photo. Owners are allowed to keep the parts from their dead elephants in that case.

Some ethnic people wear wildlife parts as ornaments as a part of their traditional garb. In that case, they can also wear them by registering them. If people’s ancestors have registered their own wildlife, the following generations have the right to own their parts. But trading them to a third party is not allowed.

So you mean all the things that are not registered with the government are illegal?

Yes they are.

So is anything officially registered in Yangon?

There are hardly any privately owned elephants in Yangon. And ethnic people almost never wear their traditional garb in Yangon. So nothing is registered.

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Less than 2,000 elephants survive in Burma

According to official 2018 data from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, there are only 2,000 domestic and wild elephants in Burma. A collapse of the population despite official rhetoric stressing the importance of preservation, and a recent WWF campaign explaining the importance of protecting this species both iconic and playing a unique and therefore key role in its biotope. Illegal ivory trafficking as well as the exploitation of different parts of the animal for alleged therapeutic benefits, and thus the poaching that results, fuel this rapid disappearance. Between 2010 and 2016, at least 116 of these pachyderms were slaughtered outlawed. And in 2017, authorities identify at least 30 animals that are victims of poaching. Daw Thiri Yadanar, a parliamentarian in the upper house, questioned his colleagues about the massacre during a session on November 16, worried about "This illegal ivory trade from Burma to China and Thailand." "If the government can not prevent the illegal trafficking of elephant tusks and other ivory objects, the dignity of our country is lost." she added. In 1940, there were about 10 000 elephants in the present territory of Burma and around 5000 in the 1990s.

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Myanmar's wildlife gets a new champion

(MENAFN - Asia Times) Wildlife conservationists have a new ambassador for fighting poachers and smugglers of endangered species: Aung La Nsang, better known under his mixed martial arts name 'the Burmese Python,' The Irrawaddy reported on November 16.

The 33-year-old fighter and One Championship middleweight and light heavyweight world champion, Aung La Nsang is an ethnic Kachin from northernmost Myanmar. He will now fight for the World Wildlife Fund, and said of his new role: 'The fight to protect wildlife and stop wildlife crime is a fight that is close to my heart.

"Elephants, tigers, pangolins, bears, turtles and Burmese pythons … they should be in the wild, in the forest, the mountains, the ocean, not in the market.'

He also said that huge challenges lie in fighting wildlife crimes as Myanmar borders China, which is home to the world's biggest black market for wildlife trade.

Despite heavy deforestation in recent decades and on ongoing conflict between the Myanmar army and ethic rebels, Kachin State and neighboring Shan State still have abundant wildlife.

The trade in wildlife has been criminalized in Myanmar since 1994, but there have been problems enforcing the law. In 2017, an elephant was killed almost every week, and Myanmar's elephant population is now down to less than 2,000.

Besides killing elephants for ivory, there have been reports of smuggling live elephants. Elephant poaching is rampant, not only in the north, but also in the Yangon, Bago and Ayeyarwady regions.

Tiger bones and tiger skins are for sale openly in Mong La and other towns along the Chinese border which are not controlled by the central government.

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Alleged Elephant Poachers Arrested in Irrawaddy Forest Reserve

PATHEIN, Irrawaddy Region — Police arrested three alleged elephant poachers and seized their small arms in a forest reserve in Pathein, Irrawaddy Region, on Thursday.

A joint force of forestry police, local police, Forest Department personnel and staff from the Emergency Elephant Rescue Unit (EERU) arrested the alleged poachers while on patrol in the Thalek Kwar forest reserve. One poacher got away.

“We had to drive about 20 wild elephants off from some villages in Pathein Township recently. We assumed that there might be some elephant poachers around and carried out a patrol, and we arrested three elephant poachers,” U Lin Lin Tun, who heads the EERU, told The Irrawaddy.

The joint force spotted two suspicious-looking men on Thursday at about noon along Chaungtha-Ngwe Hsaung Road. One of the men got away but the other was arrested and identified as Saw Htoo Nyaw, 32. He was found with two daggers and three bottles of poison.

After interrogating him, police also arrested Naing Htet Kyaw, 18, and U Kyaw Ta Thein, 56, in the Thalek Kwar forest reserve and seized poison, a percussion rifle, ball bearings for bullets and other items often used for hunting elephants.

Saw Htoo Nyaw and U Kyaw Tha Thein are from Pathein Township’s Kyay Htauk Kwin village and were helping the poachers, Naing Htet Kyaw and Maung Aye, the man who escaped. Police said the two alleged poachers are from Mindon Township, in Magwe Region.

Police have accused the three men they caught of illegal weapons possession and of violating the Protection of Biodiversity and Conservation Areas Law. They are searching for Maung Aye.

“Poachers can hunt elephants here because of the assistance of locals. While poachers get 6 to 10 million kyats [$3,796 to $6,326] for an elephant, locals who assist in the poaching only get at most 500,000 kyats ($316). It is not worth it to be arrested and have their lives ruined for that amount of money. So I’d like to urge locals to stay away from poachers,” said U Kyaw Myint Tun.

U Kyaw Myint Tun is the administrator of the Tin Chaung village tract and has won an elephant conservation award presented by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Elephant poaching has been rampant in parts of Irrawaddy Region’s Pathein, Ngapudaw and Thabaung townships adjacent to the Rakhine mountain range since 2011.

According to Irrawaddy police records, 59 wild elephants were poached in the region between January 2011 and May 2018.

The Forest Department says 115 wild elephants were killed in the last four years across the country.

In response to a rise in elephant poaching, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation said in August that it was planning to establish elephant conservation areas in Yangon, Bago and Irrawaddy regions.

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Villagers in sanctuary learn to live with, protect wild elephants

On his way to the field, U Pyone Cho unexpectedly met a wild elephant but was too surprised to do anything.

Before he knew it, the beast had picked him up with its trunk, and he thought it was the end for him. But he held on to the trunk with all the strength he could muster and the wild elephant threw him into a bush quite far away. Desperate to ward off the elephant, he took out some firecrackers he had with him and lit them.

“Both of us ran away from each other,” U Pyone Cho recalled, laughing, and he only suffered a sprained back from the encounter.

U Pyone Cho lives in Kun Thi Myaung village in Taikkyi township, Yangon Region. The village – a drive of over three hours from Yangon city – is near Bago Yoma Sanctuary, which is home to wild elephants.

With about 100 houses, the peaceful and quiet village on the way to Myaing Hay Wun Elephant Camp is surrounded by dragon fruit, sugar cane and mango orchards.

The village is a hotspot of human-elephant conflict, and villagers admit they are always worried about the possibility of encountering the jungle giants while working in their fields or heading home.

Residents said wild elephants usually enter the village at night to eat in the paddy fields. Sometimes, they forage for food at villagers houses.

“We just watch them when they get into the sugar-cane because we dare not drive them out. Our farm hut has a watchtower on top of a tree where we have to sleep all night,” said farmer U Thein Aung.

Five years ago, a villager was killed by a wild elephant when he tried to confront it and drive it away, according to U Thein Zaw, another villager.

Years of elephant incursions have made the villagers careful. Usually when elephants enter their fields, they do not confront them but frighten them by setting off firecrackers, which send the beasts scampering back into the jungle.

Villagers usually carry firecrackers when they venture into the forest in case they encounter wild elephants.

The Emergency Elephant Response Unit (EERU) at the elephant camp also helps in preventing human-elephant conflict as well as poaching by installing radio collars around the elephants’ necks to track them.

The World Wildlife Fund-Myanmar helps the unit with patrols and conservation work. Once an elephant is monitored venturing outside the sanctuary, a team from the unit is dispatched to drive the elephants back to the protected area.

Near Bago Yoma, there are about 10 villages, including Kun Thi Myaung, where human-elephant conflicts occur, said U Maung Maung Chay, leader of the unit.

The unit protects the villagers and keeps a close watch on the movement of the elephants. They also protect the beasts from poachers.

“We follow the elephants and take care of them as if the elephants belonged to us. When we find suspected poachers, we contact the authorities and we keep monitoring. The hunters do not dare to come near the elephants. The village administrators phone us if the wild elephants enter a village. If they are in a normal mood, we go there and turn them away by setting off firecrackers or shouting. If the elephants do not run away, we call in the kumkis (decoy elephants) of the EERU,” he said.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Win Tun of the forest security force said they conduct daily patrols to prevent human-elephant conflicts and to stop poachers.

“In the sanctuary, humans are invading the habitat of the elephants, chopping down trees and planting crops. This leads to less grazing area for the elephants, so they go into the fields of the villagers,” said U Win Tun.

The officer added that elephants also enter villages to escape poachers who hunt them in the forest.

Cooperation between the villagers near Bago Yoma, law enforcement and conservationists has increased recently, resulting in fewer elephant killings.

EERU patrols have started in the regions and states of Ayeyarwady, Bago, Sagaing, Magwe, Mandalay, Rakhine, and Nay Pyi Taw.

“The police, Forestry [Department], timber businesses, local government officials and village groups have joined hands to stop the poaching of elephants,” said U Zaw Min Oo, manager of the Myanma Timber Enterprise.

While locals are afraid of the elephants, they don’t want the beasts to go extinct, villager U Maung Maung Chay said, adding that villagers have learned to avoid elephants.

He cited the example of one stubborn wild elephant that always intrudes into villages. The villagers fondly call it “Jeep Car” because it moves very fast.

“He doesn’t stay in the forest much. He lives near the village. He has been tranquilised and released in Myauksamari Sanctuary twice, but he always returns here,” said U Maung Maung Chay.

Villagers urged the government and conservationists to help them set up electric fences around their fields so elephants do not destroy their crops.

“If we can grow crops in protected fields,” U Thein Aung said, “people will have food and will help protect the elephants from poachers.”

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Yangon ups ante in fight against illegal wildlife trade

Yangon is set to become the first major city in Southeast Asia to become free of trade in illegal wildlife parts after it ordered an immediate ban on the illicit market last week.

If the trade in such items is not immediately halted, the buyers and sellers will be charged under The Protection of Biodiversity and Conservation Areas Law, under which they face punishments including up to 10 years of imprisonment.

“The education period is now over. The new law has also been made widely known. Under this law, imprisonment is included so the punishment will be severe,” U Thein Toe, director of the Forestry Department of Yangon Region told The Myanmar Times.

The regional Forestry Department is cooperating closely with the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) to enforce the ban after it carried out education campaign in all the major markets and shops around the region about the need to stop the illegal wildlife and wildlife parts trade.

As the education period has been completed successfully, U Thein Toe hopes that businesses completely end the illegal trade.

“The law has come into effect so it doesn’t matter whether the sellers agree or disagree. Education activities were already organised to address the issues,” he added.

Since 1994, the sale of protected wildlife products has been declared illegal, but law enforcement has been weak and Yangon became a major hub of the illicit activity.

The Ministry of Resources and Environmental Conservation made amendments to The Protection of Wildlife and Conservation of Natural Areas Law 1994 in order to keep it up to date and increase punishment for violators.

Parliament approved the amendments to the Protection of Biodiversity and Conservation Areas Law on May 21, 2018.

In order to properly implement the law, rules and regulations were drawn up and consultations were conducted among stakeholders, including shops selling illegal wildlife parts.

Under the amended law, those who are caught commercially breeding protected wildlife could be punished by up to three years imprisonment and or a fine up K500,000 (US$320), while those caught for hunting, selling, having in possession, carrying or transferring protected endangered wildlife or their parts face up to to five years imprisonment and or a fine of K1 million.

The killing, hunting, hurting, collecting, selling, possession without approval, carrying or transferring of protected endangered wildlife under total protection or under protection and control against international trade or their parts or derivative materials is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

Christy Williams, country director of the WWF-Myanmar, said his organisation will participate in the enforcement of the ban.

“I’m happy to know such an initiative has been announced in Yangon. I’m ready to support in the government’s law enforcement in the region,” Williams said.

A research conducted by the WWF-Myanmar in September last year showed that about 67 percent of the shops at Bogyoke Aung San Market and about 30pc of the shops in the vicinity of Shwedagon Pagoda are selling elephant and other wildlife parts.

The Bogyoke Aung San Market and the Shwedagon Pagoda are the two most visited places in Yangon.

The WWF-Myanmar research found that most of the buyers of the wildlife parts are Chinese nationals.

The products made of wild animal parts found at Bogyoke Aung San Market are mostly jewellery made from elephant bones and ivory. These are sold along with jade in the market. Statues made of ivory and other accessories made with wildlife parts such as tortoise shell combs are found in the shops in the vicinity of Shwedagon Pagoda.

An official from the Yangon region Forest Department said his office will work closely with local and international wildlife conservation groups, to ensure the success of the ban.

Over the past eight years, elephant poaching has intensified in Myanmar due to increased demand for their skin, meat and tusks.

The Union Forest Department said that from 2010 to 2017, a total of 165 wild elephants were lost poached; 81 of them died naturally and 84 were killed by the poachers.

The Ayeyarwady, Bago, Yangon Regions and Rakhine State are among the hotspots for elephant poaching. Data from the Forest Department showed that most of the wildlife parts it seized are from elephants, followed by Pangolins and snakes.

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Burmese government burns illegal wildlife products worth $1.3 million in bid to deter traffickers

Law enforcement authorities in Burma have incinerated seized wildlife crime products with an estimated value of $1.3 million as part of wider crackdown on animal part trafficking.

Officials from the country’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation ceremonially set fire to a huge pyre of confiscated trafficked products made from animal parts, including elephant tusks, antelope horn and pangolin scales.

The items included 277 products made from ivory, 227 elephant and other wildlife’s bones, 45 pieces of different wildlife skins, 1,544 animal horns, 45.5kgs of pangolin scales, and 128 varieties of other animal parts.

Speaking during the ceremony, Burma’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation U Ohn Win said: “”It is crucial to sustainably conserve our country’s natural resources, including land, water, forest, mountains and wildlife, for the sake of our future generations. We designate and establish protected areas for biodiversity conservation.”

The ministry said the ceremony was organised to help raise awareness of the threat posed by wildlife smuggling in Burma, and to dissuade people who might be tempted to become involved in the trafficking trade.

Burma is a major hub for wildlife smugglers, who use the country as a base from which to traffic illegal items made from animal parts to China and other Asian nations.

In a report published earlier this week, conservation charity Save the Elephants revealed that China’s recent crackdown on the ivory trade had fuelled a “prolific growth” in the illicit animal parts trade in the Burma-China border town of Mong La.

The study found that the number of new ivory items found for sale in the town had grown by 63% over the course of the past three years, and now accounts for over a third of the ivory seen in the country.

According to the report, Chinese visitors are able to smuggle ivory purchased in Mong La back to their home country with little fear of being caught.

It also noted that a computer-driven machine in one shop in the town enables Chinese customers to mass produce decorative products made out of ivory.

Lucy Vigne, lead author of the report, commented: “Poaching is a problem for elephants in Myanmar but the country also provides a largely unchecked conduit for illegal African ivory carved in the region to be smuggled into China, in violation of International Law.

“The authorities are not deterring ivory smugglers and trade in ivory and other endangered wildlife products that is running riot to meet the continued Chinese demand.”

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Elephant Poaching Dips in 2018 After Years on Rise

PATHEIN, Irrawaddy Region — More than 100 wild elephants were poached in forest reserves across the country over the past four years, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation’s Forest Department.

U Pyae Phyo Aung, head of the Forest Department in Irrawaddy Region’s Ngapudaw Township, said poachers killed a total 115 of the pachyderms over the period: seven in 2014, 20 in 2015, 18 in 2016, 59 in 2017, and 11 from January through May.

“Elephant poaching was highest last year, but it has declined this year,” he told The Irrawaddy.

He added that 53 elephant died of natural causes from 2014 to May.

Combined, Myanmar lost 168 wild elephants over the period, an average of about 40 per year.

In the past, elephants were mainly poached for their tusks. But over the past few years, they are also increasingly targeted for their hide, which, like the tusks, is mostly smuggled to China.

Most of the poaching takes place in Irrawaddy Region. Local police said 59 elephants were poached in the region between 2011 and May 2018.

But elephant poaching in Irrawaddy Region has significantly declined this year thanks to cooperation from locals, said Ko Sai Zaw Oo of Friends of Wildlife (FOW), which is partnering with the World Wildlife Fund on elephant conservation efforts.

In January, the Forest Department launched an initiative offering rewards of 3 million kyats ($2,046) to anyone who provides authorities with information leading to the arrest of elephant poachers.

“Last year we were able to arrest a poaching ring due to a tip from a local resident in Ngapudaw. We awarded him 3 million kyats. And we conduct regular patrols with forestry police and departmental officials, and elephant poaching has declined in the region,” Ko Sai Zaw Oo told The Irrawaddy.

Combined teams comprising local police, forestry police, forest department staff, village administrators, elephant veterinarians and non-governmental organization officials conduct regular patrols across forest reserves in Irrawaddy and also educate locals about the dangers and damage of poaching.

In February, the government launched the Myanmar Elephant Conservation Action Plan, a strategy for the next 10 years (2018–2027) aimed at securing viable and ecologically functional elephant populations in Myanmar for the next century and beyond with support from international and local organizations.

Myanmar’s elephant population is now estimated at between 1,400 and 2,000, a drastic decline from about 10,000 in the 1940s, according to the Forest Department.

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SCBI Scientists Find Elephant Poaching Crisis in Myanmar

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientists and Clemson University scientists are tracking elephants via satellite collars in Myanmar, where their efforts to understand how Asian elephants use their habitat has revealed a troubling rise in poaching. These elephants are being poached for their skin, not ivory. That means males, females and calves are all victims of poaching. Their work on the ground to detect and prevent poaching and reaching out to the local community is helping save this critically endangered species.


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Two Elephant Poachers Detained in Chaungtha Forest Reserve

Two suspected poachers were detained by a combined team of authorities after an elephant carcass and weapons used for poaching were discovered in Chaungtha Forest Reserve near Ngwesaung Beach, Pathein Township in Irrawaddy Region on Sunday afternoon.

After receiving a tip-off about an elephant carcass, authorities questioned two suspects from Thitphyu Village, leading to the discovery of the carcass and weapons used in hunting the elephant.

“We have detained two suspected poachers and seized the elephant carcass, its removed skin, firearms and poisoned arrows. Four people were involved in the poaching but two of them managed to escape. The police are trying to arrest the escapees. The Forest Department will formally charge them for poaching,” Police Lieutenant Colonel Khin Maung Latt told the Irrawaddy.

The combined team of the local police, forest rangers and officials from the Forestry Department detained the two suspected poachers, Ko Htwe, known as Thaung Aye, and Nga Du, known as Chit Min Naing, together with two firearms, arrows, bottles of poison, gunpowder, knives, axes, elephant skin and flesh.

“Local people reported to the authorities that they had discovered an elephant carcass. When the team arrived at the village, the carcass had already been hidden. So, the team questioned the two suspected poachers who lived nearest to the scene. The two admitted poaching the elephant and showed the police the carcass, its skin and weapons,” said Dr. Lin Lin Tun, leader of a local elephant conservation group.

The two suspected poachers have been detained at Ngwesaung Police Station and will be charged under Section 37 (a) of the Protection of Wildlife Act.

Poachers killed about 40 wild elephants, which were searching for food in Pathein, Ngapudaw and Thabaung during the period from 2011 to 2017, according to the Pathein Township Police Force.

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Police arrest elephant poaching ring in in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy region

At least one elephant is killed by hunters in Myanmar every week, says WWF-Myanmar.

The Forestry Police arrested an elephant poaching ring in Irrawaddy Region’s Ngapudaw Township in Myanmar, The Irrawaddy reported.

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Acting on a tip, combined forces from the Forestry Police, Nga Yoke Kaung sub-township police department, the Forestry Department, village administrators and Elephant Emergency Response Units (EERU) cornered the ring in Myittayar Forest Reserve in Ngapudaw Township. Two poachers were arrested and one escaped, local village tract administrator U Kyaw Myint Tun told The Irrawaddy.

“We arrested two hunters with poaching equipment. Another poacher got away, but we are going after him. We are undertaking plans to prevent elephant poaching in our region,” he said.

The two hunters who were arrested are respectively from Rakhine State’s Taungup Township and Ngapudaw Township. The third poacher from Magwe Region is still at large.

Percussion firearms, metal bolts, iron rods, arrows, gunpowder and more were seized from the poachers, according to the Forestry Police.

“It is important to arrest poachers before they kill an elephant,” said Ko Sai Zaw Oo, an official of a local elephant conservation group in Ngapudaw Township.

Police have opened a case against the two poachers. Last year, 13 wild elephants were killed in Pathein, Ngapudaw and Thabaung, and Irrawaddy Region remains the main elephant poaching ground in Myanmar.

In February, the European Union urged the Myanmar government to strengthen efforts to protect its wild elephant population, warning that it is on the brink of extinction due to poaching to supply the illegal trade of ivory and skins.

EU ambassadors also urged the Myanmar government to end the open sale of elephant and other illegal wildlife parts in markets in its major cities, at popular tourist sites and along its borders.

According to WWF-Myanmar, at least one elephant is killed by hunters in Myanmar every week. Elephant skin, hair, teeth and ivory are sold at tourist sites such as the Golden Rock (Kyaiktiyo Pagoda in Bago Region), while ivory is sold in Yangon and Mandalay. Large markets also operate in the ‘Golden Triangle’ border area Myanmar shares with China, Laos and Thailand.

In mid-February, the government launched The Myanmar Elephant Conservation Action Plan (MECAP), a strategy for the next 10 years (2018–27) with the overall aim of securing viable and ecologically functional elephant populations in Myanmar for the next century and beyond with support from international and local organizations.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, 18 wild elephants were poached in 2016, and 30 were killed last year. The current population is estimated at just 1,400-2,000, compared to 10,000 in 1997.

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Elephant poaching emerging crisis in Myanmar

Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) have found that poaching is an emerging crisis for Asian elephants in Myanmar, according to a report on the nationalzoo.si.edu website.

Researchers first became aware of the crisis while conducting an unrelated telemetry study in which they fitted 19 Asian elephants with satellite GPS collars to better understand elephant movements and reduce human-elephant conflict. Seven of those 19 elephants were poached within a year of being fitted with the collars. The findings suggest that human-elephant conflict, which was thought to be the biggest threat to Myanmar’s wild elephants, may be secondary to poaching. And conservation efforts to help the 1,400 to 2,000 wild elephants in Myanmar should prioritize anti-poaching efforts.

Observations and discoveries from SCBI’s partners on the ground in Myanmar found further evidence of large-scale poaching. In less than two years, they confirmed that at least 19 elephants, including the seven with satellite GPS collars, were poached. And systematic surveys showed an additional 40 poached elephants were found across the southern central region of the country. 

Unlike African elephants, Myanmar’s elephants are being targeted by poachers for their skin instead of ivory. In Asian elephants, only males have tusks, which can vary in size, the report said.

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Asian Elephants Are Now Being Killed For Their Skin

The smell was ghastly and the sight even worse. Twenty-five elephants lay dead in a riverbed in the Ayeyawady (Irrawaddy) delta in southwestern Myanmar. “The stench is what led villagers to the bodies in the first place,” says Aung Myo Chit, the Smithsonian Institution’s Myanmar country coordinator, who also leads a local NGO, Growth for Prosperity, that helps rural residents avoid deadly conflicts with elephants.

It was the trust Aung Myo Chit’s outreach workers had earned that led villagers of Nga Pu Taw Township to reveal the dead elephants. Ordinarily, local people avoid reporting poaching to the authorities for fear they’ll be blamed.

By the time Aung Myo Chit’s filmmaker colleague Klaus Reisinger got there in early May, the giant carcasses had deteriorated badly. “Their bellies were bloated,” Reisinger recalls with a shudder.

Captive elephants are often used to drag carcasses of elephants slain for their ivory out of riverbeds where they’re commonly found. But that wasn’t possible this time. The skin had been stripped from the bodies, leaving them to tear apart if moved. So staff with the Myanmar Forest Department who came to investigate burned them in place to prevent their contaminating the downstream water supply.

Such spectacles are familiar on African savannas, where elephants are more numerous and poachers have stalked their ivory for decades. Not so in the thick forests of Myanmar, where the country’s remaining 1,200 to 1,400 endangered wild elephants are elusive and only the males (and not all males) have tusks.

But this and other, smaller recent slaughters in the Ayeyawady delta were not ivory raids. Poachers had killed males, tuskless females, and calves alike in pursuit of a different prize: their skins.

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Wild elephants wander near forest, ‘hiding from poachers’

Ten wild elephants are wandering in the forest by a highway and the authorities are protecting them from poachers.

The elephants near the Pathein-Mawtin highway in Ayeyawady Region are thought to be fleeing from poachers.

Htun Lin, administrator of Ngayokekaung Township, said: “Residents informed us of 10 elephants wandering in the forest near the highway. We took the photos of the elephants and then deployed a patrol.”

He added that the elephants did not harm the residents
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“I think they came near the people to hide from poachers who usually operate in deep forests. We joined forces with members of an elephant conservation group and patrolled a mile perimeter. This is the first time I’ve seen wild elephants approach that close to human settlements.”

“Voices for Momos”, a group of elephant protectors, told a media conference on November 1 that between January and August at least 30 wild elephants were slaughtered for their ivory and skin.
The country was left with only 1,400 to 2,000 wild elephants, they added.

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As Myanmar’s elephants vanish, artists bring them to life in downtown Yangon

COMMUTERS could be excused for thinking someone spiked their morning laphet yay with reports of a rather unusual site in downtown Yangon today; a herd of elephants out the front of city hall towering above the gridlock of cars and busses. 

But these aren’t hallucinations.  This very real sculpture exhibition marks the beginning of a six-month campaign to draw attention to elephant poaching and confront the crisis which has seen Myanmar’s wild elephant population reduced to alarming levels.

One of the seven giant paper mache elephants that make up the sculpture piece ‘We Love Our Momos’ was made with old newspaper clippings of environmental stories which includes coverage of the brutal killings of elephants for their skin to waste disposal problems in Yangon.

‘We Love Our Momos’, on display from November 4 to 6 at Mahabandoola Park in downtown Yangon, is part of the ‘Voices for Momos’ campaign organized by a coalition of conservation organizations including World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Fauna and Flora International (FFI).

“I’ve always wanted to make giant elephant sculptures but they also reflect the current situation of elephant killings,” said graffiti artist Arker Kyaw, who led a team of artists in the construction of the sculptures.

The team which included master bamboo sculptor U Myint have been building the seven giant elephants since September.

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Winkabaw Camp needs milk for orphaned baby elephants

If you decide to go on a weekend excursion to Winkabaw Elephant Orphanage Camp in Bago Region, it would greatly help bringing along a pack or two of milk powder for its voracious baby pachyderm residents, a senior camp official appealed.

U Myint Soe, officer in charge of Winkabaw Elephant Camp told The Myanmar Times last week, that his seven wards each consumes between two to three bags of milk powder daily.

“There are no regular donations. We just receive K1000 to K4000 per day. And if you ask whether donations (of milk powder) could be used, I’d say they are always needed,” said U Myint Soe.

“The calves must be protected and cared like orphan kids,” he added.

Since opening last year, it has cared for seven orphaned baby elephants, of which two are domesticated and five are wild. Because they need to be fed milk powder, a donation box has been placed at the camp for donations, U Myint Soe said.

“They (baby elephants) are marked with numbers. No.1 needs 3 bags of 600 grammes a day. Others need 2 bags. A 600g milk powder bag costs around K10,000 and K16,000 for 800g,” he said.

Among its seven wards, two were domestic ones and arrived at the camp after their mother died and the five wild ones just escaped from the hands of elephant poachers in Ayeyarwady Region.

Five attendants take care of the seven orphans in the camp and although there is no difficulty in taking care of the calves, it is necessary to be careful as they can’t be hurt, according to U Myint Soe.

Aside from the orphan baby elephants, there are more than 10 elephants in Winkabaw.

Winkabaw Elephant Camp opened in 2016 and is located at Bayargyi-Bawnakgyi Road, 22.5 kilometres north of Bago and about 6.5 kilometres west of Bayargyi township.

“Most baby elephants were left at the camp after their mothers were killed and they cannot live like a normal wild elephants. So, we have to take care as much as we can. When they are adults they can find their own food but we need to train them to stay naturally,’’ said Dr Myo Min Aung, a veterinarian.’’

Visitors can closely watch how the baby elephants are being taken cared by their attendants.

“During school days, about 20 to 30 people visit the orphanage but during holidays, hundreds of people come here,” U Myint soe said.

The camp is open daily from 7am to 6pm. Those who want to visit can contact 09-431 216 47, 09-778 132 360 and 09-250 90 80.

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In a disturbing new trend, poachers are killing Myanmar’s elephants for their skin, teeth, and tails

In a disturbing and growing new trend, Asian elephants of all ages are being slaughtered in Myanmar for their skin and other body parts. Elephant poaching rates since January have already surpassed the annual average for the country—in a country that has less than 2,000 wild Asian elephants, this is a frightening uptick that requires immediate action to ensure their survival.

An astounding 110 elephants have been reported killed since 2013, primarily in the Bago Yoma and Ayeyarwady Delta where armed conflict and a lack of law enforcement make the terrain more accessible to poachers. At this rate, wild elephants could vanish from these two key areas of Myanmar in only one or two years.

“Asian elephants are already facing tremendous challenges across their range,” said WWF’s Nilanga Jayasinghe, senior program officer for Asian species. “Adding to those is this new trend that we are seeing in Myanmar of herds being indiscriminately poached for their skin. It is extremely alarming. We must act now to protect them!”

An emerging new threat
There are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants left in the wild, and fewer than 2,000 in Myanmar. For decades, they’ve faced the threats of habitat loss, human-elephant conflict, and, to a lesser extent, poaching. But poaching for body parts other than tusks (only male Asian elephants grow tusks, and only 1% of male elephants in Myanmar have tusks) is on the rise.

Elephant skin is sold dried and is mixed with other ingredients to make topical creams for dry skin conditions, and consumed as medicine for stomach ailments. The skin is also polished into beads and sold as lucky charm bracelets, while tail hairs are put into silver rings and worn for luck. Elephant teeth are ground down into a powder which is used on the face to reduce spots and inflammation. Most markets selling elephant products sit along the border regions of China, Laos, and Thailand, but there’s also a demand in Myanmar.

We can help protect Myanmar’s wild elephants
Right now, there are no anti-poaching patrols in the Bago Yoma and Ayeyarwady Delta regions. That’s why WWF is launching an emergency action plan to train, equip, and deploy 10 anti-poaching teams to the most vulnerable areas, and implementing a thorough plan to stop the slaughter.

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