Nature / Wildlife

The Lao government dispatched four elephants to Japan on Sunday as a special gift to Tokyo Zoo, where it is hoped they will be productive breeding partners.
The gift was in recognition of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Laos and Japan next year.
The elephants and their mahouts travelled with Japanese technicians in a specially designed Japanese aircraft, with an official handover of the animals to ….

The captive elephant population in Laos will be extinct in just over a century if current management practices do not change, a University of Queensland study has found.
It is estimated that only 480 captive elephants remain across Laos, and the study shows that changes to conservation management are necessary to prevent extinction.
“Elephant ownership has long been associated with Lao culture and national …..

Conservationists have expressed concern over the decline in the elephant population in Laos due to overwork and poaching.
Laos recently was named as a major source for the illicit ivory trade bought by foreign tourists and this is one of the main factors that have put the elephant population at risk.
ElefantAsia, an organisation that provides medical care to Lao elephants, told the elephant population had been declining every year. Currently, there are 450 domestic elephants nationwide. Xayaboury is believed to have the highest number of elephants in the country, but every year they are facing a tough situation with animals getting overworked, sometimes even ……

There is no doubt that the elephant populations in Laos, both wild and captive, are in rapid decline. With as few as 470 captive elephants and a lesser number estimated in the wild, the future of this endangered species within Laos is bleak and as such every elephant is significant to its very survival.
The Asian elephant population in Laos faces its own battle against the threat of extinction. Currently the elephant birth rate in Laos is on average 4-5 births per annum opposed to 15 deaths, a trend which indicates the population is not sustainable.
Unquestionably Laos needs to protect its national heritage, and the country needs to safeguard its elephant populations with particular emphasis on its genetic reservoir. This reservoir is imperative to the survival of the species in Laos.