Tauranga student will care for elephants in Laos

A Tauranga woman is heading to a remote part of Asia to help care for endangered elephants.

Angela-Mary Fearnley, from Whakamarama, plans to go to Laos in late November to spend two weeks at the Sayaboury Elephant Conservation Center as part of the Volunteer Eco Student Abroad VESA programme.

Miss Fearnley's role will see her working closely with many elephants at the purpose-built rehabilitation, research and breeding facility.

All the animals were rescued from endangerment by the logging trade.

Miss Fearnley, 20, is in her third year of a bachelor of mechanical engineering at the University of Auckland.

"I've always loved elephants and when some VESA volunteers visited the university in my first year to talk about their unique experiences, I was hooked," she said.


One of the perks of her eco-tour would be the chance to ride elephants to and from her jungle bedroom, and help care for the calves in the elephant nursery.

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Elephant festival in northern Lao province

The 11th elephant festival took place in Laos’s northwestern province of Sayabouly on February 18.

The annual event, which drew the participation of Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and hundreds of thousands of visitors at home and abroad, aims to raise public awareness of elephant conservation.

It also demonstrates the close-knit relations between Lao people and elephants.

The elephant festival was held for the first time in 2007.

This year’s event attracted over 300,000 visitors, doubling the number in 2016.

It was commenced with a majestic parade of nearly 70 elephants, followed by other activities such as playing football, running, drawing, and tug-of-war contests among the participating elephants.

The festival also featured various cultural and artistic performances staged by local ethnic groups.

Sayabouly is now home to more than 400 domestic elephants and hundreds of wild elephants.

The Lao government has put forth a number of policies in recent years to protect elephants in association with tourism development.

The government also plans to expand the elephant festival to national scale in the years to come.

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Elephant Deaths Spark Security Boost

Somsack Pongkhao, Vientiane Times
March 27, 2009

Local authorities will beef up village security forces to protect wild elephants from poaching in Phou Khaokhouay, or ‘Buffalo Horn Mountain’,National Protected Area after five elephants were shot dead a few weeks ago. Villagers said two of the five elephants died in Ban Na in Thaphabath district of Borikhamxay province.The remainder, including a juvenile, were found inBan Yangkheua in the same district. Ban Na, located 82km south of Vientiane, relies heavily on tourism income derived from its pachyderms. The town boasts an elephant observation tower which has proven popular with visitors wanting to see elephants in their natural environment.

While the motivation for the killing has yet to be proven,officials suspect commercial motives. Poachers usually kill elephants for their valuable
body parts, namely tusks,trunks, teeth and tails. Deputy Head of Phou Khaokhuay National Protected Area, Mr That Keothone, said authorities were still analysing the bullets for clues.

“We are encouraging people in the 10 villages living nearby the protected area to be our ‘eyes and ears’, as well as to report strange sightings or incidents to authorities immediately,” he said. Yesterday, district authorities met with residents of the 10 villages to discuss preventive measures as well
as how to boost villagers’ participation in the rotection of elephants from
poaching.

Head of tour guides at Ban Na, Mr Bounthanom Inthilath, said Thaphabath district’s Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism Office had issued a notice barring villagers from interfering with the elephant remains.


“Those who interfere with the dead elephants will be considered to have been associated with the crime,” he said. “At the meeting we agreed to add extra village security force patrols to protect the conservation area. The reason is because village security men know a lot about the protected
area.”


People in Ban Na say the elephants are their most important source of income, and losing them would mean hardship for many. Mr Bounthanom said the villagers had been earning income from tourists coming to watch wild elephants since the opening of the elephant observation tower in April,
2005.


Villagers benefited from domestic and overseas visitors who spent money on homestay accommodation, tower entry fees, village tour guides, food and the purchase of handmade products and souvenirs from the village.

Mr Bounthanom said last year the village earned about 100 million kip from
tourists coming to see the elephants. “More tourists now want to see the elephants, but my concern is that if elephants are scared of poachers, they won’t come to the tower and finally no tourists will come here. All of us will be affected,” he said.

It was unclear how many wild elephants there are in Phou Khaokhouay, but Mr Bounthanom said about 40 elephants were reported in 2005.

Meanwhile, officials said one elephant was also reported killed in Phou Phanang National Protected Area. They called for urgent attention
from the relevant sectors to address the issue.

Tourists seen as a lifeline for Laos elephants

By Thin Lei Win, Reuters

April 1, 2008

VIENTIANE (Reuters Life!) - Laos, once known as the Land of a Million Elephants, faces warnings from conservationists that it could lose its herds within 50 years if it does not move quickly to protect them with tourism eyed as a possible savior.

Poaching and habitat loss from logging, agriculture and hydroelectric projects has caused a major decline in the number of both wild and domesticated Asian elephants in Communist Laos.

ElefantAsia, a France-based non-profit organization, estimates the number of domesticated elephants, who are used mainly in the logging industry, has fallen 25 percent in the past five years to 560 with only 46 cows under the age of 20 left.

It estimates there are less than 1,000 elephants left in the wild where there are only two births to every 10 deaths.

"(The situation is) critical," Sebastien Duffillot, co-founder of ElefantAsia, told Reuters. "Destruction of habitat has huge impact on wild elephant groups. Domesticated elephants are overworked in logging and thus do not reproduce."

The World Wide Fund for Nature estimates as few as 25,000 wild and 15,000 captive Asian elephants may be left in the 12 countries where they live

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Elephants In Laos Rapidly Disappearing

Elephants In Laos Rapidly Disappearing

DENIS D. GRAY, The Associated Press

March 21, 2008

VIENTIANE, Laos - Connie Speight has swayed on elephant-back through unforgiving jungle and has adopted nine of the high-maintenance beasts. At 83, the retired American teacher is back in this Southeast Asian country to help save what remains of the once mighty herds.

Once so famous for its herds that it was called Prathet Lane Xane, or Land of a Million Elephants, Laos is thought to have only 700 left in the wild.

"Lots of people in Asia tell you how elephants are their proud national heritage," Speight said. "But I tell them, 'It was your heritage, and what are you doing to bring it back?' Often precious little."

Elephants in Laos are better off than in most of the 12 other nations that are home to the animals. The country has extensive forest cover and a sparse population. But like elsewhere, it's a race against time. Poachers, dam builders, loggers and farmers are taking a deadly toll on the endangered species.

"The situation will become very dramatic in about 10 years if nothing changes," said Sebastien Duffillot, co-founder of France-based ElefantAsia. At their current rate of decline, Laos' wild elephants could be extinct within 50 years, he warns.

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Laos losing its iconic elephant. Birth rates are plunging due to lost habitat and gruelling work. Can eco-tourism help?

FRANK ZELLER, Agence France-Presse

MArch 14, 2007

HONGSA, LAOS -- The elephant population of Laos is shrinking fast, a decline ecologists blame on habitat loss and a trend all too familiar to many humans -- too much work, not enough play.

Ancient Laos was known as Lan Xang, the "Land of One Million Elephants" but today fewer than 2,000 of the animals survive and about half of them are driving the problem by helping log the country's last virgin forests.

Birth rates have plummeted as wild populations have been isolated and domesticated elephants often spend eight hours a day in remote logging camps, leaving them exhausted and far from potential mates.

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Environmentalists in the poor Southeast Asian country are trying to reverse the trend before it is too late, pinning their hopes on eco-tourism and revitalizing the elephant's ancient sacred role in Lao culture.

To raise awareness about the plight of the majestic animals, France-based non-profit group ElefantAsia last month organized modern Laos' first elephant festival in the remote northwestern district of Hongsa. The event featured colourful elephant parades, skills demonstrations and religious rituals in which Buddhist monks performed rites for the pachyderms traditionally honoured for their strength, spirit and intelligence.