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.
Please credit and share this article with others using this link:http://animals.gimbot.xyz/in-a-disturbing-new-trend-poachers-are-killing-myanmars-elephants-for-their-skin-teeth-and-tails/
Welcome to Elephant News Burma. This site is intended to be a public service to those wishing to keep up to date with events and issues affecting elephants in Burma.
Showing posts with label slaughtered elephants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label slaughtered elephants. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Animal ranger held captive and beaten for three days after trying to stop poachers
Rohit Singh sat slumped in the corner of his locked cell, the hunger pains in his stomach throbbing in time with the bruises that covered his body.
He dreaded the sound of the key in the lock – that would mean yet another beating.
He was to spend three days held hostage, his captors the poachers who slaughter elephants and other animals to make a quick buck.
Yesterday, the Mirror revealed elephants in Myanmar, where Rohit worked, could be pushed to the brink of extinction within two years because of a new Asian craze to turn their skin into beads – which traders claim have health benefits.
Some 20 elephants were found killed and skinned in one day alone in the war-torn country.
But while action groups and charities are trying to stop the poaching, rangers such as Rohit are facing an explosion of violence against them, as they try to tackle the criminals while surviving on as little as £1.50 a day from local authorities.
Rohit, 33, tells the Mirror how he was kidnapped after trying to go undercover with a poaching gang – but had his cover blown by a drunk colleague.
“A gang of them beat me up and locked me in a room for three days,” he says. “Every so often, they would come back and attack me again, trying to beat information out of me.” He was only saved because a back-up unit was on standby, waiting to raid the building if they did not hear from Rohit for 48 hours. They rescued him, seized the animal parts and arrested the poachers.
To read the full article, click on the story title
He dreaded the sound of the key in the lock – that would mean yet another beating.
He was to spend three days held hostage, his captors the poachers who slaughter elephants and other animals to make a quick buck.
Yesterday, the Mirror revealed elephants in Myanmar, where Rohit worked, could be pushed to the brink of extinction within two years because of a new Asian craze to turn their skin into beads – which traders claim have health benefits.
Some 20 elephants were found killed and skinned in one day alone in the war-torn country.
But while action groups and charities are trying to stop the poaching, rangers such as Rohit are facing an explosion of violence against them, as they try to tackle the criminals while surviving on as little as £1.50 a day from local authorities.
Rohit, 33, tells the Mirror how he was kidnapped after trying to go undercover with a poaching gang – but had his cover blown by a drunk colleague.
“A gang of them beat me up and locked me in a room for three days,” he says. “Every so often, they would come back and attack me again, trying to beat information out of me.” He was only saved because a back-up unit was on standby, waiting to raid the building if they did not hear from Rohit for 48 hours. They rescued him, seized the animal parts and arrested the poachers.
To read the full article, click on the story title
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)