EU Calls on Myanmar to Take Action to Save Shrinking Elephant Population

Government urged to close down illegal wildlife markets around the country The post EU Calls on Myanmar to Take Action to Save Shrinking Elephant Population appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

 YANGON—The European Union urged the Myanmar government to strengthen efforts to protect its wild elephant population, which is on the brink of extinction due to poaching to supply the illegal trade in ivory and skins, as well as 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.

In a statement to mark World Wildlife Day on Saturday, more than two dozen ambassadors of the European Union and its member states warned that Myanmar’s wild elephant population would be wiped out in a matter of years as poaching for tusks and other parts remains a huge challenge globally with Myanmar facing an “unprecedented elephant skinning crisis”.

In recent years, the Myanmar government has been working on strengthening the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Law, establishing more than 40 protected areas for wildlife, developing action plans for elephants and tigers, training and deploying rangers, and instituting wildlife training for government staff about the illegal wildlife trade. The EU and its member states have supported some of these efforts through the provision of technical support and capacity building.

“In particular, we would recommend that the Government of Myanmar ends the open sale of elephant and other illegal wildlife parts, which today are widely sold in markets in Yangon, Mandalay, Kyeikhteeyoe and along Myanmar’s borders,” the statement said.

According to WWF-Myanmar, at least one elephant is killed by hunters in Myanmar every week. Elephant skin, tail hairs, 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 such markets, elephant skin is sold dried for traditional ‘medicine’ or polished into beads and sold as lucky charm bracelets. The tail hairs are put into silver rings and worn for luck.

Last month, the WWF-Myanmar met with the trustee members of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon to hold an awareness program for souvenir shop owners at the pagoda stairways to educate them on the harm done by selling ivory and other wild animal related objects.

The EU statement released on Wednesday added that as long as these markets continue to sell illegal wildlife products, Myanmar’s wildlife will be at risk, and Myanmar’s position as a global and regional illegal wildlife trade hub will continue and grow as other countries in the region close their domestic markets. China shut its domestic ivory market in January this year and Hong Kong has also committed to ban ivory trading.

“Concrete action, such as developing a more robust legal framework in line with global standards — and ensuring its effective enforcement — would send a clear message that Myanmar has a zero-tolerance approach to wildlife crime,” the statement said.

The EU ambassadors also encouraged the government to take action now so that Myanmar can attend the 2018 London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in October, not only to renew its commitments to the 2014 London Declaration on the Illegal Wildlife Trade, but also to take up its place as a regional leader in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade.

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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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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