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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