H’Hen Nie poses with elephants in new collection photoshoot

Top 5 Miss Universe 2018 H’Hen Nie has posed in a new photoshoot of designer Do Manh Cuong featuring the beautiful landscape and elephants of her hometown in the Central Highlands. The Mix and Match is a collection of vibrant colours, from the hot pink to the flowery patterns, and H’Hen Nie helped enliven the photoshoot as she posed with the elephants. Designer Do Manh Cuong also used a varied colour scheme and different types of fabrics including tweed, feathers, chiffon and lace. The colours and fabrics are skillfully mixed together to make the outfits even more eye-catching. Checkered and mix patterns, new puffed skirt, tight pleats, romantic dress, trench coat and merengue dress all exist together in harmony. H’Hen Nie has been named among Vietnam’s 50 most influential women in 2019 in a ranking released by business magazine Forbes Vietnam on March 4. She is Miss Universe Vietnam 2017 and made the top 5 of Miss Universe 2018 in Thailand last December. Some photos of the collection: H’Hen Nie poses with elephants

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Vietnam's elephant race draws cheers, and critics

BUON MA THUOAT, Vietnam — Mahout Y Hoi Bya sits atop his elephant, whacking him with a large stick to urge him toward the finish line at the Buon Don race in Vietnam's central highlands.

Locals say the race is a celebration of the much-revered animals — traditionally thought of as family members in this part of Vietnam — but conservation groups are calling for an end to the festival, which they say is cruel and outdated.

Normally held every two years, the Buon Don elephant festival — a major tourist event — features football matches, swimming sessions, a parade and a buffet for the animals, topped off with a highly anticipated race on the event's final two days.

Y Hoi says his animal's past successes in the popular race has earned him and his pet pride of place in his village in central Dak Lak province, home to many of Vietnam's surviving elephants.

"He often wins first place in the running competition in Dak Lak," said the 38-year-old, who started caring for elephants as a young boy.

His elephant's pre-competition routine involves a regular diet of bananas and sugarcane to ensure its strength, Y Hoi, from the Ede ethnic minority group, told AFP.

It appears to have worked: he rode his elephant Kham Sinh to victory, beating out 10 others for the top prize of $130.

The festival drew hundreds of cheering spectators as well as animal activists who say the elephants shouldn't be forced to work long hours under the hot sun, and then beaten with sticks during the race.

"That is one of the highest levels of animal cruelty, especially because it's entertainment," said Dionne Slagter of the NGO Animals Asia.

She was happy to see fewer elephants take part in this year's festivities — just 14 from dozens in years past — but hopes authorities adopt a more ethical approach to animal tourism in the future.

Animals Asia last year launched Vietnam's first ethical elephant tours, offering guests a chance to see the animals which the NGO rescued roaming in the national park.

More than 80 elephants in Vietnam are still kept in captivity, usually used for elephant rides — backbreaking work that has rendered most infertile today.

The 100-150 wild elephants have also shown little promise of boosting their numbers.

The festival left some spectators like Vu Tran Minh Anh with mixed feelings.

"I didn't think elephants could do so many things like play football, run and swim," the student told AFP.

"But I do feel sorry for the elephants."


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Vietnam corporation accused of 'ruthless exploitation' of bears for entertainment

A Vietnamese corporation has been accused of exploiting moon bears to entertain tourists near the resort town of Nha Trang, although it said its bears are kept under 'proper' care.

Hong Kong-based charity Animals Asia says the Long Phu Corporation kept juvenile moon bears in "deplorable conditions" and "forced (them) to perform bizarre tricks for the entertainment of tourists."

The bears are malnourished, muzzled on stage and used for selfies off stage, before being returned to "tiny, barren" cages hidden from visitors.

"This is the most ruthless exploitation of a protected species. Clearly no thought is given to the welfare of the bears as they endure an utterly miserable existence," Nguyen Tam Thanh, Animals Asia Animal Welfare Department Manager, said in a statement.

Vuong Cam Van, a communications officer from Long Phu, told VnExpress International that the company does use bears for circus performances. "But the animals receive proper care."

Van said Animals Asia was "overreacting" with its accusations.

The mouth muzzle, she claimed, was "to protect the audience as the bears' performances took place in open space."

Vietnamese law does not prohibit animal performances, but certain species like bears, macaques and elephants are protected from exploitation, including poaching and trading for profit, according to the charity.

Dave Neale, Animals Asia Animal Welfare Director, said that where the bears had come from need to be investigated.

The organization is also petitioning the Vietnamese government to ban all wild animal performances. It aims to collect 100,000 and send the petition to the tourism ministry.

Earlier this week, five moon bears from the southern provinces of Dong Nai and Binh Duong were rescued from captivity by non-profit conservation group Four Paws Viet. They had been held in cages for many years for bile extraction.

Vietnam is home to both the moon bear, also known as the Asian black bear, and the sun bear, both listed as vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

The extraction of bile from living bears is illegal in parts of Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, where it has for long been used as a remedy in traditional Chinese medicine.

Vietnam banned commercial bear bile extraction in 2005, but more than a decade later, it remains a problem as farmers who owned bears prior to the ban were still allowed to keep them.

According to data from the Forest Protection Department, nearly 800 bears are still held captive in farms across the Vietnam, while the number of bears in the wild has dropped to just a few hundred individuals.

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Malaysia jails two Vietnamese, one for 19 years, for possessing wildlife parts

Two Vietnamese men have been jailed for 19 years and six years in Malaysia for possessing body parts of threatened wildlife species.

Animal conservation website TRAFFIC reported Wednesday that Tran Van Sang, was sentenced to 19 years by the Kuala Kangsar Sessions Court on 10 charges under the Wildlife Conservation Act.

He had been arrested in August 2017 in Sungai Siput town for possessing 273 body parts from tigers, leopards, cloud leopards, sun bears and sambar deer. All except sambar are classified as Totally Protected Species under Malaysian law.

Ho Van Kien, 40, besides a jail sentence, also received a fine of $100,000 on six charges of illegally possessing tiger, leopard and sun bear parts.

He has been arrested last July in an industrial area in Kuala Lupis, Pahang State, along with five other Vietnamese. But the five have been granted discharge not amounting to acquittal by the court.

At least 15 Vietnamese nationals were arrested in Malaysia for tiger-related crimes between 2016 and 2018, TRAFFIC said.

Vietnam is a hotspot for illegal wildlife trafficking, with products like elephant ivory, tiger bones, pangolin scales and bear bile prized locally for decorative purposes and medicinal properties though modern science has provided no proof of their medicinal qualities yet.

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Buon Don Elephant Festival 2019 in Dak Lak province

The event is a traditional cultural activity of local people to improve the community’s awareness of conservation of home elephants and promoting the traditional cultural values ​​of ethnic people, contributing to promote local tourism.

It saw the participation of 10 elephants. A number of traditional rituals were presented to audiences such as wharf offering, elephants’ health offering, performance of hunting and taming wild elephants, elephant marching, elephant race, and elephant football games.

Addressing at the event, Vice Chairman of the Dak Lak provincial People’s Committee Vo Van Canh said that the province has the largest elephant population in Vietnam with the number of 43. Annually, the province organizes the festival to demonstrate local ethnic minority people’s skills in hunting and taming wild elephants.

The 7th Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival under the theme “The Quintessence of Jungle” is taking place from March 9th to 16th.

With famous brand and geographical indication, Buon Ma Thuot coffee has been sold across over 60 countries and territories worldwide, contributing significantly to the country’s total coffee export, which hit nearly 1.9 million tonnes worth over USD3.5 billion in 2018./.

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Visitors enjoy exciting M’Nong elephant worship in Dak Lak

The elephant plays an important and symbolic role in the cultural life of the M’Nong ethnic people. They consider elephants as members of their community. Many M’Nong families use rituals as an opportunity to thank the gods and pray for the health of the elephants. For the local people of the district, elephants are considered their greatest assets and are gifts from the Jade Emperor. A shaman, a respected religious person with profound knowledge of M’Nong customs, goes to families, who have elephants to perform a ceremony to pray for the health and obedience of the animals. The offerings include wine, steamed rice, bottles of water, and pork. The ceremony is also accompanied by a gong performance. This unique ritual typically captures the attention of both local people and tourists during the 7th Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival which is held in Dak Lak province. Girls wearing traditional outfits perform a M’Nong ethnic dance. The local ethnic customs are kept alive in order to preserve the traditions of the ethnic people and to entertain tourists. The Gong performance in particular proves popular among visitors. The elephant plays an important and symbolic role in the cultural life of the M’Nong ethnic people. They consider elephants as members of their community. Many M’Nong families use rituals as an opportunity to thank the gods and pray for the health of the elephants. For the local people of the district, elephants are considered their greatest assets and are gifts from the Jade Emperor. A…

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Wild elephants destroy fields in Dong Nai

Illustrative image (Source: dantri) Dong Nai (VNA) – Wild elephants have been upsetting local people in Dinh Quan district, in the southern province of Dong Nai, by destroying their homes and crops, causing serious economic losses. According to statistics from the district’s forest protection station, forest elephants have visited Thanh Son commune on dozens of occasions, destroying large areas of mango, banana, and cashew nut farms. A number of guard stations and temporary housing for local people were also pulled down by the elephants. Vice head of the station Nguyen Van Chieu said the 14 wild elephants were divided into two or three groups with three to eight individuals each group, often travelling to hamlet 5, Thanh Son commune to find food and water in ponds and lakes in the area. Some local residents have coordinated with the station’s staff to chase away the elephants and protect them from harm by other less empathetic residents. In order to prevent conflicts between elephants and local people, the provincial forest protection department recently built a 50-km electric fence system worth 74 billion VND (3.18 million USD) to separate natural forests from farming areas. The department has proposed to build an additional 20km of electric fence to prevent these disruptions. –VNA

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Uganda detains Vietnamese wildlife trafficking suspects

Ugandan authorities Saturday stopped two Vietnamese men from boarding their plane, suspecting them of smuggling ivory and pangolin scales.
Officers of the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Customs Enforcement Intelligence detained Nguyen Van Thanh and Dinh Van Chung at the Entebbe International Airport as they were about to board a plane, the Daily Monitor reported.

They are suspected of belonging to a group of 18 Vietnamese men involved in smuggling ivory pieces and pangolin scales worth $8 million that Uganda has been tracking for weeks.

The URA recently shared photos of the suspects, saying all the 18 Vietnamese men are on the run in connection with the wildlife trafficking case.

The smuggled goods were concealed in timber logs and could have originated in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo and passed through South Sudan before entering Uganda, the URA said.

Uganda police discovered the illegal cargo and seized it in early February.

URA identified the suspects as Thai Xuan Phuong, Dinh Van Quan alias Tony, Din Van Chung, Vo Quoc Trinh, Thai Xuan Tuan alias UNK, Do Trong Ha alias Hoang Ha, Tran Van Cao alias UNK, Vu Van Huan alias Jimmy, Trinh Trung Dung alias UNK, Le Viet Quyen alias UNK, Ha Chan Chinh, Le Dinh Quan, Nguyen Van Linh, Nguyen Van Thanh, Pham Trong Phuc, Nguyen Van Pha, Nguyen Van Viet, Hoang Van Hau. No explanation was given for several people having the same alias.

"These two (Thanh and Chung) were arrested trying to flee the country to escape prosecution. URA Customs is now on the hunt for 16 suspects still at large," the URA said.

The ring is said to have been operating in Uganda for the last three years.

Global trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989 after populations of the African pachyderms dropped from millions in the mid-20th century to around 600,000 by the end of the 1980s.

Vietnam also outlawed the ivory trade in 1992, but the country remains a top market for ivory products which are prized locally for decorative purposes and for traditional medicine, despite there being no proof of its medicinal qualities.

Pangolins, also known as scaly anteaters, have also become critically endangered due to demand for their meat — considered a delicacy — and their scales, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat aliments from cancer to arthritis.

Of the 10 countries and territories with the largest number of pangolin trafficking incidents, seven were in Asia – China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos, and Indonesia – according to a 2017 study by wildlife trade monitoring group Traffic and Australia’s University of Adelaide.

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Vietnam actively preparing for its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister Dung stressed the importance of the meeting as it made a start of the Sub-Committee for Contents and prepared for a draft report to the second meeting of the National ASEAN 2020 Committee in March 2019. At the event. (Photo: VNA) The deputy minister urged members of the Sub-Committee for Contents to discuss and give opinions to the draft and the overall plan for the Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020. Delegates agreed with the proposed drafts of the Sub-Committee and shared their views on the themes, priorities and initiatives for the year. They agreed that all contents must repond to ASEAN’s concerns, follow the common trend, serves as the continuity of the previous year’s agenda, give a clear message and leave a good impression of the Chairmanship on other members. He hoped that experts and consultants, with their experience and knowledge of ASEAN and regional issues, would contribute valuable opinions to …

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FG Launches Investigation Into Intercepted Wildlife Species To Vietnam, Hong Kong

LEADERSHIP-The federal government has commenced investigation into alleged trafficking of wildlife species to Vietnam and Hong Kong purported to have originated from Apapa Seaport, Lagos. The Vietnamese Customs Service had intercepted over 2,500 kilograms of pangolin scales and 600 kilograms of Ivory tusks as well as 8,200 kilograms of pangolin scales and 2,000 kilograms of Ivory were also intercepted by Hong Kong Custom Service. The minister of environment,Suleiman Hassan Zarma, stated this in Abuja yesterday while reacting to media reports on the seized items considered as valuable items and used as medicinal ingredients in parts of Asia, especially China. According to him, “The ministry has initiated investigation of the reported illegal trade by communicating officially with the Vietnamese and Hong Kong CITES management authority with a view to providing us with the documents that will be forwarded to the Nigerian Customs Service and INTERPOL for further investigation.” He pointed out that he was disappointed to receive information that Vietnamese Customs discovered concealed containers declared as consigning knocked wood by Vietnamese company, VIC Thanh Binh Import-Export Company Limited with its office address at Lien Hong Commune, Dan Phuong District, Hanoi. Zarma noted that the most worrisome aspect of the information was that it originated from Nigeria despite the tough war against illegal wildlife trade in the West African region. The minister wondered how the pangolin originated from Nigeria when the specie and elephant population was almost extinct in the country saying that such high volume of ivory would not have originated from Nigeria. He lamented that Nigeria is used as a transit route for illegal wildlife trade, a situation that has rubbished the image of the nation globally. The minister recalled that Nigeria had signed and ratified the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1974 and promulgated the Endangered Species (Control of International Trade and Traffic) Decree No.11 in 1985 now enacted as Endangered Species Act 2016. While stating that Pangolin and Elephants were highly protected endangered species and listed on Appendix I of (CITES) as well as on Schedule I of the National Endangered Species Act, 2016, he observed that export of wildlife fauna and flora from Nigeria were covered by CITES permit/certificates. Zarma reaffirmed the ministry’s role as focal point of CITES implementation and its commitment to conserve wild species that are almost extinct due to over exploitation, habitat change and illicit trafficking.

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Hong Kong customs seizes 40 kg of rhino horns bound for Vietnam

Hong Kong customs officers Thursday made a record seizure of 40 kg of rhino horns worth $8 million that were en route to HCMC.

Two men, aged 28 and 33, were intercepted at Hong Kong International Airport after officials spotted them acting suspiciously. The men, whose identities and nationalities have not been disclosed, had arrived from Johannesburg in South Africa.

A search of their luggage turned up the horns hidden in two cardboard boxes checked in to Ho Chi Minh City, the government website news.gov.hk said.

Hong Kong is a global hot spot for wildlife trafficking. It is a key transit point for shark’s fin and rhino horn besides timber smuggling to Asia, particularly mainland China.

Vietnam is a major consumer of rhino horns for their alleged medicinal powers and a transit point for trafficking mostly to China and the U.S., where they are made into jewelry and home decoration items.

It has banned the trade in rhino horn, elephant ivory and pangolins, but weak law enforcement has allowed a black market to flourish and supply a global multi-billion-dollar industry in animal parts and exotic pets.

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Graphic anti-wildlife-trafficking campaign tackles Vietnam’s pangolin problem

• A bold new campaign launched in Ho Chi Minh City late last month focuses on pagodas and aims to educate Buddhists on the devastating impact of the illegal wildlife trade and the importance of these three species.

• Research has shown that fewer Vietnamese believe in the alleged medicinal properties of these animal parts than in the past.

• Despite increasing awareness and changes in attitude, massive shipments of ivory and pangolin scales continue to be sent to the country.

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — On Jan. 28, a graphic new anti-wildlife-trafficking campaign called “Be Their Bodhisattva” launched at a major pagoda here in Vietnam’s commercial center. Under the branch of Mahayana Buddhism widely practiced across Vietnam, a bodhisattva is someone who delays reaching nirvana in order to save others from suffering.

The campaign, presented by the U.S.-based NGO WildAid and the Ho Chi Minh City-based Center of Hands-on Actions and Networking for Growth and Environment (CHANGE), revolves around hyper-realistic statues of an elephant, a rhino and a mother and child pangolin.

These are not your average statues, however. The elephant’s tusks are broken and blood drips down the remaining ivory; all that is left of the rhino’s horn is a bloody stump; and scales have been sheared off the pangolins. All four are in the prayer position facing Buddha, seemingly pleading for salvation.

Vietnam is a major consumer of parts from these three species, thanks to traditional medical practices that have been largely debunked. In light of World Pangolin Day, recent events have brought the need for such a campaign into stark relief.

On Feb. 1, Reuters reported that customs officials in Hong Kong had discovered an enormous shipment of ivory tusks and pangolin scales on its way to Vietnam. The consignment, worth an estimated $7.9 million, contained 2.3 tons (2,100 kilograms) of ivory and 9.1 tons (8,300 kilograms) of scales, for which an estimated 500 elephants and a staggering 13,000 pangolins were killed. It was the largest cache of pangolin scales ever found at the port.

Reuters also reported that customs officials in Hai Phong, northern Vietnam’s largest port, had found 1.4 tons (1,270 kilograms) of pangolin scales in a shipping container that arrived from Nigeria.

On the same day, Reuters reported in a separate article that authorities in Uganda had stopped a shipment intended for Vietnam that held 762 pieces of ivory and 423 kilograms (933 pounds) of pangolin scales.

Using beliefs to communicate

Amid these finds, Nhu Ho, a program manager at CHANGE, explained the strategy behind “Be Their Bodhisattva,” which will travel to four different pagodas nationwide until March 10. The group was also involved in a 2017 program covered by Mongabay that installed 17 visually arresting murals depicting rhinos around Ho Chi Minh City.

“Every year we like to come up with a creative idea to make a campaign and spread it out to the most people possible,” Nhu said in an interview.

“Be Their Bodhisattva” is just the latest in a joint five-year effort by WildAid and CHANGE to alter attitudes toward the use of elephant, rhino and pangolin parts among Vietnamese. In some ways, it has paid off.

A 2016 Nielsen survey conducted in Ho Chi Minh City found that 23 percent of respondents believed that rhino horn has medicinal benefits, down from 69 percent in 2014. Meanwhile, only 9.4 percent of those surveyed believed that rhino horn cures cancer, a fall from 34.5 percent two years prior.

“We wanted to focus on these three animals and put all our effort into creating a really effective campaign around them, instead of spreading our resources too thin by doing more species, as these three are the most endangered and on the verge of extinction,” Nhu added.

CHANGE and WildAid, along with local creative agency Dinosaur Vietnam, decided to target the religious beliefs of Vietnam’s Buddhists, who make up one of the country’s largest religious groups.

“We were well-aware that Vietnamese people have strong spiritual beliefs in religion, and Buddhism is the most important religion in Vietnam,” the program manager said. “Many people may trust their family members or friends a lot less than they believe in Buddha or their religious leaders.”

An auspicious start

Locating the dramatic presentation within a pagoda was a bold move on more than one level.

“We knew it could look sensitive to some people, but having done a lot of creative campaigns in the past, we’d learned that creative ideas usually mean ‘non-traditional,’ or even risky, and we decided to take the risk for this powerful idea,” Nhu said. “We also wanted to focus on a specific time of year which everyone pays attention to.”

They chose Tet, Vietnam’s Lunar New Year celebration, which ran from Feb. 2 to 10 this year. It’s a time of what Nhu describes as “important traditional and religious celebrations when a lot of people go to pagodas.”

Actions taken at the start of Tet are also believed to set the tone for the rest of an individual’s year, so the emphasis on positive behavior is also relevant.

But Nguyen Tran Tung, CHANGE’s marketing and communications director, described the initial reaction to the campaign as muted. “On the day after I sent out the press release, I got no responses,” he said. “I was really upset. Some of my friends had warned me that this campaign could look sensitive to local media.”

“The next morning,” Tung went on, “I invited some journalists to the pagoda for them to see it with their own eyes, and the following day I felt so relieved to see one popular digital news site publish an article about the campaign with powerful pictures.” Tung said the article went viral on social media and was then covered by most major national media.

The next step is for CHANGE to bring in prominent names in an effort to amplify its message further.

“We’re waiting for some celebrities to come to the pagoda and share our campaign,” Tung said. He added that 20 local stars have agreed to take part so far.

A video about the statues will also be displayed on digital billboards at airports and malls, while leading monks and nuns from major pagodas will livestream messages on the importance of protecting animals in Buddhism. Gyalwang Drukpa, a prominent international Buddhist environmental activist, will attend the closing event here next month.

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Elephant racing festival highlights urgent need for shift to ethical tourism

As a festival featuring performing elephants in Vietnam approaches, Animals Asia calls on the country to transition to cruelty-free tourism and celebrations.
The Dak Lak province Coffee Festival, due to take place from 9 to 16 March, celebrates the province’s achievements, including its historical connection to elephants, through a series of cultural events.

As part of the celebrations, elephants will be forced to play football, race, swim and take part in tug-of-war for the amusement of locals and visiting tourists.

But with Vietnam struggling to preserve their last remaining populations of wild elephants, Animals Asia has written to the government urging a transition away from exploitation.

Animals Asia’s Animal Welfare Department Manager Nguyen Tam Thanh said:

“We absolutely support the celebration of Dak Lak province’s close cultural connection with elephants, but it is time to put the elephants’ welfare needs at the heart of that relationship.

“Vietnam is struggling to save its last wild populations of elephants and if steps aren’t taken to embrace a culture of respect for them – not as an economic resource to exploit, but as an integral part of the ecosystem – then I’m afraid a vital part of this region’s identity and heritage will die with the last of the species.”

At this year’s event, Animals Asia will host a stand to engage and inform the public about animal welfare as well as the charity’s programmes helping to rescue bears from the bile industry, protect cats and dogs from the meat trade and raise welfare for captive elephants.

According to data from the Vietnam Administration of Forestry, Vietnam’s wild elephant population is believed to have fallen to between 100 and 150, a figure conservationists say is not viable to ensure their survival, while 88 individuals live in captivity, mostly providing rides for tourists in Dak Lak province.

The rapid decline in numbers of wild elephants, from around 2,000 in 1990 to around 100 today, is largely due to loss of habitat as forests are cleared for logging and agriculture. Historically, wild capture for domestication in the tourism industry and poaching for ivory have been exacerbating factors, although poaching has ceased in recent years.

In stark contrast to the model of exploitation prevalent in the tourism industry, in 2018 Animals Asia set up Vietnam’s first ethical elephant tours.

Thanks to funding from Olsen Animal Trust, elephants used for rides in Yok Don National Park are now free to roam the forest with tourists observing them in their natural environment.

The elephants now roaming Yok Don National Park will not take part in the Dak Lak Coffee Festival.

Animals Asia Animal Welfare Director Dave Neale said:

“The model we’ve set up in Yok Don is a win-win: the elephants, the tourist and the mahouts all benefit. If financially successful, we hope this model will be copied across the country and even the Southeast Asia region to completely end the cycle of poor welfare and cruelty prevalent in elephant riding tourism.”

Animals Asia’s letter to government officials cited welfare abuses, public safety, and government regulations against festivals featuring “beating” or “hitting” as key concerns. The charity is yet to receive a response to the request to end the abuse of elephants at the festival.

In a bid to save the last wild populations of elephants, Vietnam set up the Elephant Conservation Centre in 2015. Animals Asia works with the facility to provide veterinary care and standards of welfare high enough to enable breeding and release to help wild populations recover.

Due to low standards of welfare, no captive facility or private owner has successfully bred elephants in Vietnam for over 30 years. The ECC aims to run a free-choice breeding programme for elephants to be released into the wild.

An elephant polo match played annually in Bangkok has been scrapped after public outcry over the event’s inherent animal welfare issues. The event, which raises money for wildlife conservation, this year will feature boat races in ships shaped like elephants and educational art installations instead of live elephants.

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The last domesticated elephant in northern central highlands

Ya Tao now lives alone deep in the forest at Chu Mo Commune in Ia Pa District. As the forest continues to disappear, it takes almost two hours for its owner, Ksor Aluh, to walk to its place.

"I have to visit her every day to bring leaves and trees or take her to find food in the forest," Aluh said. "Food has become increasingly scare due to deforestation."

According to Aluh, the two provinces of Gia Lai and Kon Tum in the northern central highlands used to be well-known for taming a large number of wild elephants. But the mighty animals have largely died due to war bombs, old age, and deforestation.

"Now Ya Tao is our only elephant left, and also the last in this northern central highlands region," he said. "My father-in-law bought her in 1990 to mate with his male elephant, Bak Xom. But Bak Xom and some other domesticated elephants in the area suddenly died from diseases in 1995, leaving her alone."

Aluh said that after his father-in-law died, some people paid VND1.5 billion (USD65,217) to buy Ya Tao, but his family want to keep her because she is considered a sacred animal and pride of the family and the whole village.

Aluh was assigned an important responsibility to take care of Ya Tao because he is the closest family member to her after his father-in-law.

"I take this responsibility with pride," Aluh said. "I used to follow my father-in-law to graze the elephants so I know Ya Tao very well. She is very fierce especially with women and children."

Aluh said that Ya Tao still eats well but her health has declined due to old age so they don't take her to work anymore.

"Now it's time for her to rest," he said. "She has helped us do a lot of hard work including taking people across rivers, transporting goods and taking wood from the forest. Construction of most of the stilt-houses, as well as large communal houses in our village, was made possible due to the help of Ya Tao and many other elephants."

The elephant tamer said that they were treating Ya Tao very well to show their love and gratitude to her. However what they wished most of all was to be able to find her a mate, and then they would have a baby elephant.

"Although we are trying to give her enough food, we still see the loneliness in her eyes," Aluh said.

The number of elephants in Vietnam has decreased sharply in recent years due to deforestation and poaching; the total population fell from roughly 1,000 in the mid-1980s to about 120 in 2014, according to an official report.

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ÚSTÍ ZOO FORCED TO PUT DOWN ELEPHANT

The zoo in the Czech city of Ústí nad Labem has had to put down an Indian elephant, a spokesperson said. The female was euthanised on Monday after long-standing problems with its foot left it unable to stand.

The elephant, which was named Kala, was brought from Vietnam to Czechoslovakia in the mid-1980s and was aged 34.

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Visiting Orphaned Baby Elephants at the Elephant Transit Home in Udawalawe, Sri Lanka

Yogawinetravel.com: Visiting Orphaned Baby Elephants at the Elephant Transit Home in Udawalawe, Sri Lanka. Read on for how to plan your visit to the Elephant Transit Home and support the conservation and protection of Asian elephants!

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URA intercepts three trucks of elephant tusks, Vietnamese nationals arrested

The Uganda Revenue Authority working with security personnel have today intercepted three trucks of smuggled elephant tusks and pangolin scales at Elegu border post, on the Uganda- South Sudan border.

Although details are still scanty, the tax body says two Vietnamese were arrested and are helping police with investigations.

According to URA’s twitter feed, the tusks and scales had been meticulously sealed and it took an non-intrusive cargo scanner to discover them.

Dickson’s Kateshumbwa, the Commissioner Customs notes that these were nabbed at Elegu border coming from democratic republic of Congo transiting through Uganda to be taken to Vietnam.

Following a tip off from the intelligence, two Vietnam nationals have been arrested in custody of three containers each carrying over 750 pieces of ivory which are estimated to be from over 300 elephants and yet to be identified tones of pangolin scales.

Dickson Kateshumbwa the customs commissioner general says that at Elegu border scanners gave them confusing pictures which forced them to do a detailed search.

“These people declared timber as the consignment being taken to Vietnam but due to our intelligence we intercepted them since the scanner couldn’t give us a clear picture,” Kateshumbwa said.

The ivory was hidden in the timber.

This has been the most sophisticated smuggling operation they have encountered this year.

“We are now breaking the timber and melting the wax which was used to hide the ivory and pangolin scales. We are sure the group is big and working in all African countries and with these two, we are going to trace them,” he said.

According to Section 200 D (II) of the East African Community Customs Management Act 2004, it is illegal to acquire prohibited goods and the offence attracts a jail sentence of not less than five years or a penalty of 50 per cent of dutiable value of the goods or both

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Dong Nai: forest rangers work to drive away hungry elephants

Dong Nai (VNA) – Forest rangers of Dinh Quan district in the southern province of Dong Nai have been provided with equipment to monitor and drive away wild elephants that have been destroying local households’ crops since the start of this year.

The equipment includes a drone, night-vision binoculars, cameras, long-beam lights, hand-held loudspeakers, protective footwear, and raincoats.

Nguyen Van Chieu, head of the district’s forest ranger team, said about 14 wild elephants, in groups of two or three, have approached households in Hamlet 5, Thanh Son commune, Dinh Quan district, to search for food, salt, and water.

Since early 2019, there have been 11 incidents of elephants intruding upon crop fields of local households, he said, adding that Dong Nai’s forest ranger department has built a 50km electric fence system and is asking for permission to set up another 20km to prevent wild elephants from coming into the area.

Experts say the elephant requires a vast habitat, but its living space has been shrunk due to human encroachment into the forest. Local foresters in Dong Nai say the natural habitat for wild Asian elephants has shrunk from 50,000ha in the 1990s to 34,000ha in 2009.

Only some 100 wild elephants remain in Vietnam, with most living in Dak Lak, Dong Nai, and Nghe An provinces, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Forest Management Department.

The Government has adopted several policies aimed at preserving the elephant herd, including a master plan for 2013-2020. –VNA

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300 elephants gather to mourn over the passing of their leader in Sri Lanka

This tear-jerking video shows a large herd of elephants mourning over the passing of their leader near Kalawewa reserve in Sri Lanka.

While there are many instances prove that animals also feel joy and love, not many know that they are capable to feel sadness and distress as well.

As shown by the heartbreaking footage, nearly 300 elephants gather to pay their last respect to their former leader who was allegedly killed by a rival.

The dead elephant can be seen lying on the banks of a lake near Anuradhapura while tens of elephants gather around it.

The video also shows the elephants gather around the dead elephant silently as they mourn together.

A baby elephant can also be seen reaching out to the dead elephant with its trunk before returning to the herd.

According to Daily Mail, the unusual sight also drew a crowd from the locals who flocked the scene to take pictures and videos of the extraordinarily huge herd of elephants.

Elephants are some of the animals that are known to mourn over their dead relatives by touching the carcass or covering it with leaves.

This was not the first time elephants were seen to display such behavior. Rare footage from National Geographic taken in 2013 shows similar sight at Samburu National Reserve in Kenya.

The footage shows several elephants gather around an old carcass of an old elephant called Victoria. It is reported that Victoria died because of a natural cause.

In the video, Victoria’s carcass receives last respect from her family members and also those who are not related to her.

While humans usually reserve the last respect for closed ones, elephants apparently grieve over the passing of their family members and also their acquaintances, according to a study done by Oxford University in 2006.

Elephants are also known to display sympathy and compassion to their sick and dying counterparts.

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Wild elephants drag elderly man from pineapple hut and trample him to death

A man’s body has been found crushed to death outside his pineapple storage hut near Khao Ang Ruenai Wildlife sanctuary, in central Thailand.

Wild elephants – notorious for coming down the mountain to the village in search of food – are suspected of having dragged the man from his hut and stamping him to death to get access to his pineapples.

Police and park officials were informed by a villager that he had heard elephants as they entered the village and then a man shouting in fear. The incident happened on Sunday night.

73 year old Ek Homhuan’s body was discovered 20 metres from his small hut, where he decided to sleep to guard his crop against thieves, both human and animal. Police found evidence at the scene which indicated elephants may have pulled Ek from the hut using their trunks.

Examination of the body found severe bruising all over and that his skull had been crushed. His body has now been sent to Tha Takiab Hospital for a full autopsy.

Reports vary but say that two to three elephants could have been responsible for the attack, but had returned to the sanctuary after feeding.

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Relief for animals as prestigious Vietnamese zoo quietly ends cruel elephant performances

Following years of criticism from Animals Asia, Saigon Zoo has ended all elephant performances.
Saigon Zoo, the biggest in Vietnam, has ended all live elephant performances following years of opposition by Animals Asia.

For years, four elephants have been forced to perform tricks, such as rearing up on their hind legs and standing on stools every weekend and on public holidays.

These activities cause great suffering to the animals as they are forced to behave unnaturally and in manner which can cause long-term harm to their bodies. Such activities can only be achieved through the threat of violence in the form of spiked sticks known as bullhooks.

While the zoo made no formal announcement that the shows have ended, Animals Asia has gained assurances that they have not taken place since December 2018 and will not be reintroduced.

Animals Asia has opposed the elephant performances since 2016 when the charity began liaising with the zoo and the Vietnamese Zoo Association.

Animals Asia Animal Welfare Director Dave Neale said:

“We are absolutely delighted that Saigon Zoo has realised the elephant shows are cruel, out-dated and utterly at odds with the principles of animal welfare.”

Saigon Zoo owns six Asian elephants, four of whom were forced to perform. All six will continue to be on public display in the zoo’s usual enclosures.

Dave said:

“Going forward we have offered free welfare advice to help the zoo provide the highest standards of care for the elephants and have even offered to provide qualified veterinarians to help care for one of the elephants who is showing signs of illness. Sadly, the zoo has not accepted these offers of support but they remain on the table. We’ll never turn away from an animal in need.”

Animals Asia works collaboratively with zoos around Asia in a bid to improve standards of welfare.

In 2016, Hanoi Zoo ended their animal circus after years of collaboration with Animals Asia and continues to receive year-round help on enrichment and enclosure improvements.

In China, Animals Asia’s opposition to animal circuses at zoos led to a government directive in 2011 banning animal performances. However, the latest Animals Asia investigation into animal performance in China's zoos revealed that as of 2018, more than 30% of zoos and safari parks have failed to end land-animal performances in line with legislation.

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Vietnam’s illegal ivory market continues to thrive, report finds

• Over two surveys conducted between November 2016 and June 2017, TRAFFIC’s researchers found more than 10,000 ivory items being offered on sale across 852 physical outlets and 17 online platforms, suggesting an ivory market that has continued to thrive over the past few decades.

• Physical retail stores in Ho Chi Minh City and Buon Ma Thuot had the highest number of ivory items for sale, the surveys found, but two villages, Ban Don and Lak, had a disproportionately high number of items on sale compared to the number of stores. Among the online platforms, social media sites had the highest number of posts offering ivory for sale.

• The ivory markets in Vietnam are, however, changing constantly. TRAFFIC’s researchers not only found ivory for sale in places where previous studies had found none, they also observed shifts in markets within their two surveys, over just an eight-month period.

• The surveyors also found that the sellers were aware that selling ivory was illegal, but “it does not deter them from offering it openly for sale in Vietnam,” they said.

Vietnam’s illegal ivory markets are still thriving, according to a new report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

Over two surveys conducted between November 2016 and June 2017, TRAFFIC’s researchers found more than 10,000 ivory items being offered for sale across 852 physical outlets and 17 online platforms. This suggests that Vietnam’s ivory markets, one of the world’s biggest, has persisted over the past few decades, the researchers say.

The team carried out surveys in 10 cities, including Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Ha Long, Mong Cai, Vinh, Da Nang, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Buon Ma Thuot and Ho Chi Minh City; and three villages: Nhi Khe in Ha Noi, and Ban Don and Lak in Daklak province. Ho Chi Minh City and Buon Ma Thuot had the highest number of ivory items for sale. The two villages of Ban Don and Lak, however, had a disproportionately high number of items on sale compared to the number of stores. Among the online platforms, social media websites had the highest number of ivory offers for sale.

TRAFFIC’s investigation found that Vietnam’s ivory markets, while persistent, keep changing. Researchers not only found ivory for sale in places where previous studies had found none, they also observed shifts in markets within their two surveys, over just an eight-month period.

For example, they found that the quantity of ivory for sale in physical markets in Nhi Khe and Ha Long had declined considerably between the two surveys. At the same time, new ivory markets cropped up. Ivory was being offered on sale in Da Nang and Vinh, for instance, two places where ivory markets had not been recorded before. In fact, the researchers recorded an increase in the quantity of ivory on sale in these two cities between the two surveys of the latest study.

The physical retail markets may even be expanding in Vietnam, the authors of the report write, “as ivory was found in all locations surveyed, including for the first time in the cities of Da Nang and Vinh.”

Similarly, there was high turnover among sellers on social media sites, with many sellers no longer advertising ivory during the second survey, and several new ones emerging. The surveys also found a link between the physical and online ivory markets, with eight sellers found to be using both markets to sell ivory.

Ivory sales in four cities — Ha Long, Ban Don, Lak, and Nhi Khe — were likely directly tied to Chinese tourism, the report found. In these places, ivory items were offered mostly at souvenir outlets on popular tourist streets. Many outlets displayed Chinese characters for ivory on their billboards instead of translating them into Vietnamese or other languages, and ivory prices were quoted in foreign currencies such as Chinese yuan and U.S. dollar.

During the two surveys, the sellers that the researchers interviewed said the ivory originated from Vietnam. But with fewer than 100 wild elephants remaining in the country, the TRAFFIC team believes that the ivory likely came from African elephants (Loxodonta africana), especially given that most ivory seized in Vietnam in recent years has come from countries that are home to the species.

The surveyors found that the sellers knew that selling ivory was illegal. But “it does not deter them from offering it openly for sale in Vietnam,” Sarah Ferguson, director of TRAFFIC in Vietnam, said in a statement. “Regulatory and enforcement efforts must catch up to the markets, or the Vietnamese illegal ivory market will remain one of the largest in the world.”

To tackle Vietnam’s ivory markets, the TRAFFIC team recommended closing legislative loopholes in legislation dealing with the trade in Asian and African elephants and their parts. They also suggested increasing capacity building for law enforcement officers to help them stay up-to-date on market trends and marketing tactics that sellers use to avoid detection; reducing consumer demand for ivory by improving understanding of the motivations and practices of those purchasing ivory, and implementing behavior change communication campaigns; and conducting regular surveys that shed light on the changing nature of Vietnam’s ivory market.

“Until Vietnam takes decisive action against its persistent illegal ivory markets in line with its commitments under CITES [Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora], it will continue to undermine the international response to the elephant poaching crisis,” said Minh Nguyen, research and data management officer at TRAFFIC.

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Vietnamese faces six years in jail for smuggling elephant tusks into Thailand

Nguyen Thi Thanh, 43, from the central province of Ha Tinh, was stopped at the border checkpoint in Nakhon Phanom, a northeastern province in Thailand as she was sitting in a bus from Thakhek in the Lao province of Khammuane, the Bangkok Post reported. When police searched her luggage, they found 930 items of elephant tusks and ornaments worth an estimated $60,340. Thanh faces criminal charges for smuggling and possessing ivory without permission, and can be jailed for up to six years under the Thai Penal Code. The woman told the police that she was paid $61 by an unnamed Lao citizen to carry the ivory products to a bus stop in Nakhon Phanom for another person to pick up, police said. However, authorities suspect she is a member of a smuggling syndicate. The global trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989 after populations of the African pachyderms dropped from millions in the mid-20th century to around 600,000 by the end of the 1980s. Vietnam also outlawed the ivory trade in 1992, but the country remains a top market for ivory products which are prized locally for decorative purposes and for traditional medicine, despite there being no proof of its medicinal qualities. Weak law enforcement in the country has allowed a black market to flourish, and Vietnam is also a busy thoroughfare for tusks trafficked from Africa destined for other parts of Asia, mainly China.

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Vietnam’s illegal ivory market is thriving

The study, “From tusk to trinket: persistent illegal ivory markets in Viet Nam,” documents surveys recently carried out at 852 retail outlets in 13 locations and 60 individual sellers on 17 online platforms.

Although selling ivory is illegal in Vietnam, researchers found more than 10,500 items for sale, demonstrating the persistence of the ivory retail market.

But the report also found that retailers are often transitory.

Although ivory was found in all 13 locations, its sale appeared to highly transitory in nature: repeat visits found that 43 per cent of retail outlets observed with ivory had only just began to sell, stopped selling or simply closed over the course of the survey. The comparable figure for online retailers was 86 per cent.

There are clear links between Vietnam’s physical ivory markets and online outlets, the report said.

The survey found retail outlets expanding their networks to sell ivory items online and vice versa.

In eight instances, online sellers were either linked to physical stores or physical stores were also selling their items on social media websites, e-commerce websites or online forums.

Tourists, particularly from China, are significant buyers.

Chinese nationals were reported as buyers by multiple sellers, and tourist villages emerged as particularly significant retailers of ivory.

Prices were sometimes quoted in currencies like the Chinese yuan and US dollar.

Ivory jewellery and pendants comprise the vast majority of ivory items being sold. Jewellery items accounted for over 90 per cent of all the ivory items found online and in physical outlets.

Jewellery products tend to be smaller in size, which makes them easier to store, carry, transport or deliver, likely making them popular with buyers in both physical and online markets.

“Though retailers know that selling ivory is illegal, it does not deter them from offering it openly for sale in Vietnam,” Sarah Ferguson, director of TRAFFIC in Vietnam, said.

“Regulatory and enforcement efforts must catch up to the markets, or the Vietnamese illegal ivory market will remain one of the largest in the world.”

Sellers consistently reported Vietnam as the origin of the ivory for sale, however, this is highly unlikely given the overwhelming majority of ivory seized in the country is from African elephants and fewer than 100 wild Asian elephants exist in Vietnam.

Around 20,000 African elephants are poached each year for their tusks, which are mostly trafficked to Asia to meet the ivory demand.

To reduce and eliminate Vietnam’s illicit ivory markets, the report offers a number of recommendations to the Vietnamese Government, conservation groups and the wider stakeholder community.

They include closing legislative loopholes, boosting enforcement capacity and increasing deterrents against criminal activity, restricting the market availability of ivory, reducing consumer demand for ivory, and continuing to monitor market trends.

In 2013, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Secretariat told Vietnam to prepare a National Ivory Action Plan as part of its international responsibility under the convention to address the illegal ivory trade and curtail the associated poaching of elephants.

The plan included activities addressing regulations, corruption and ivory stockpile management among other things.

“Until Vietnam takes decisive actions against its persistent illegal ivory markets in line with its commitments under CITES, it will continue to undermine the international response to the elephant poaching crisis,” Minh Nguyen, research and data management officer at TRAFFIC, said.

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Việt Nam’s illegal ivory market is thriving

Illegal ivory in containers at Cát Lái Port in HCM City. Surveys recently carried out at 852 retail outlets in 13 locations and 60 individual sellers on 17 online platforms in Việt Nam found more than 10,500 ivory items for sale, demonstrating the persistence of the ivory retail market. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hải

Viet Nam News HCM CITY — Illegal ivory is widely available at physical and online retail outlets throughout Việt Nam, according to a new TRAFFIC report published with support from USAID.

The study, “From tusk to trinket: persistent illegal ivory markets in Việt Nam,” documents surveys recently carried out at 852 retail outlets in 13 locations and 60 individual sellers on 17 online platforms.

Although selling ivory is illegal in Việt Nam, researchers found more than 10,500 items for sale, demonstrating the persistence of the ivory retail market.

But the report also found that retailers are often transitory.

Although ivory was found in all 13 locations, its sale appeared to highly transitory in nature: repeat visits found that 43 per cent of retail outlets observed with ivory had only just began to sell, stopped selling or simply closed over the course of the survey. The comparable figure for online retailers was 86 per cent.

There are clear links between Việt Nam’s physical ivory markets and online outlets, the report said.

The survey found retail outlets expanding their networks to sell ivory items online and vice versa.

In eight instances, online sellers were either linked to physical stores or physical stores were also selling their items on social media websites, e-commerce websites or online forums.

Tourists, particularly from China, are significant buyers.

Chinese nationals were reported as buyers by multiple sellers, and tourist villages emerged as particularly significant retailers of ivory.

Prices were sometimes quoted in currencies like the Chinese yuan and US dollar.

Ivory jewellery and pendants comprise the vast majority of ivory items being sold. Jewellery items accounted for over 90 per cent of all the ivory items found online and in physical outlets.

Jewellery products tend to be smaller in size, which makes them easier to store, carry, transport or deliver, likely making them popular with buyers in both physical and online markets.

“Though retailers know that selling ivory is illegal, it does not deter them from offering it openly for sale in Việt Nam,” Sarah Ferguson, director of TRAFFIC in Việt Nam, said.

“Regulatory and enforcement efforts must catch up to the markets, or the Vietnamese illegal ivory market will remain one of the largest in the world.”

Sellers consistently reported Việt Nam as the origin of the ivory for sale, however, this is highly unlikely given the overwhelming majority of ivory seized in the country is from African elephants and fewer than 100 wild Asian elephants exist in Việt Nam.

Around 20,000 African elephants are poached each year for their tusks, which are mostly trafficked to Asia to meet the ivory demand.

To reduce and eliminate Việt Nam’s illicit ivory markets, the report offers a number of recommendations to the Vietnamese Government, conservation groups and the wider stakeholder community.

They include closing legislative loopholes, boosting enforcement capacity and increasing deterrents against criminal activity, restricting the market availability of ivory, reducing consumer demand for ivory, and continuing to monitor market trends.

In 2013, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Secretariat told Việt Nam to prepare a National Ivory Action Plan as part of its international responsibility under the convention to address the illegal ivory trade and curtail the associated poaching of elephants.

The plan included activities addressing regulations, corruption and ivory stockpile management among other things.

“Until Việt Nam takes decisive actions against its persistent illegal ivory markets in line with its commitments under CITES, it will continue to undermine the international response to the elephant poaching crisis,” Minh Nguyễn, research and data management officer at TRAFFIC, said. — VNS

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Hà Tĩnh wants urgent protection measures for elephants

HÀ TĨNH — Authorities in the central province of Hà Tĩnh have recommended the formation of a project for the urgent protection of elephants in the province’s Vũ Quang National Park.

The Hà Tĩnh People’s Committee sent a proposal to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Việt Nam Administration of Forestry earlier this week recommending urgent measures to protect the elephants in the park from harm by humans.

National parks in the country are all controlled by the ministry and the administration.

According to the proposal, camera traps in the park photographed two herds of elephants several times, each with at least four elephants. Those pictures helped to prove the existence of elephants inside the park’s territory.

Habitats for elephants are narrowing year after year due to construction revamping forest land and the impacts of climate change, the proposal says. The elephants also face dangers from illegal poaching and attacks by angry nearby residents when they leave the jungle to find food.

The committee suggested a project lasting from 2019 to 2025 to implement urgent initial measures for the protection of the elephants as well as to recover their habitat.

Earlier, the national park conducted projects to collect genes of elephants and other species sharing the same habitats. The park has also worked to prevent conflicts between elephants and nearby residents as well as to stop poaching and illegal logging in the area’s elephant habitats.

According to a previous report by the administration, there were 75 to 130 elephants remaining along the border between Laos and Việt Nam. An updated report on the total number of elephants has yet to come.

The main habitat areas of elephants in the country are Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Nam and Đồng Nai. — VNS

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NC police nab three for illegal possession elephants tusks and pangolin remains

Northern Cape police have apprehended three people in Mothibistad after they were found in possession of elephant tusks, precious metal and the remains of the endangered pangolin animal.

Police spokesperson, Dimakatso Mooi says local authorities – made up of different units - followed up on information which led them to a house in Magojaneng village which is outside Kuruman on Tuesday, December 11. Mooi says it is here that they discovered three people between the ages of 32 and 34 who were allegedly in possession of elephant tusks valued at R 650 000, Platinum worth R 290 000 and the remains of 1 pangolin worth R 55 000. The latter, is an endangered mammal covered with scales for which they are poached. It has been reported that all eight pangolins species found in Tropical Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are in danger of extinction as a result of poaching. Mooi says the three suspects are expected to appear in the Mothibistad Magistrate’s Court soon. She says it is unknown if they will make their first appearance tomorrow. The investigation into the matter is still ongoing.

This comes as nine people in the North West are in police custody after they were found in possession of lion and tiger remains in late November. OFM News reported previously that eight of the suspects were apprehended on Sunday, November 25. They were joined in the dock by the ninth suspect, 42-year old Friederich Fourie on Tuesday, November 27, who is believed to be an important figure in the syndicate. According to Hawks spokesperson in the province, Tlangelani Rikhotso, the 42-year old man handed himself over to authorities on Tuesday morning. He was, thereafter, taken to the court to join his co-accused before the Magistrate.

Six of the suspects in this case are from Vietnam, Nguyen Huu Son, Nguyen Van Tuan, Dao The Thanh, Pham Van Khue, Chanh and Cu Quoc Thang. While the three others are South African, Louis Fouche, Lourens Pretorious and aforementioned Freiderich Fourie. They are being charged for the illegal possession of game products and carrying out restricted activities involving specimens of a listed, threatened or protected species.

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Tourists complain about thin elephant being forced to do party tricks

dailymail.co.uk is reporting that an adult elephant has been photographed performing in front of deserted audience seating at Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo, just south of Bangkok.

With its bones clearly visible, a female elephant is seen balancing on two wooden tables before being led down and forced to walk across a metal tight rope.

She pauses in the middle, turns around and walks back, according to the article.

The skeletal frame of the small Asian elephant, with its pelvis and shoulder poking through its saggy leathery skin, raised concerns from one visitor who filmed the ‘show’.

“I’ve been visiting the zoo for a long time because I like to look at the animals. But when I visited last week I was upset when I saw one of the elephants. The elephant looked so thin and weak. I felt so sorry. I think he needs help.”

The unidentified tourist thought the zoo might be having financial problems and couldn’t afford to look after the elephant. The Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo was built in 1950 as Thailand’s first crocodile farm. It boasts that it is the world’s largest crocodile farm and has expanded to include other animals as well.

dailymail.co.uk reports that the zoo now has over 60,000 crocodiles of different kinds in various pits and features daily shows. Locals say that the zoo was once popular, but in recent years the crowds have dwindled and many shows are now empty.

Visitors who reviewed the zoo, which has a one star rating on TripAdvisor, said they were ‘heartbroken’ at what they saw, although the attraction did receive some praise. Here are some other responses…

“The place is poorly maintained – a lot of the facilities are run down and look like it hasn’t been upgraded in a long time.”

“It’s very heart wrenching to see the animals kept in such poor conditions and God knows if there’s even anyone taking care of them.”

“I literally cried numerous time throughout the day.”

A spokesman for the zoo said that all the elephants at the park are “good”.

“No, no, no. The elephants here are all healthy. They are all good. None of them are thin. They are all fed well. They do shows every day.”

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Homesick elephant in daring escape

Elephants, they say, never forget.

And it seems one such animal at a sanctuary in New York is longing to return home to Việt Nam.

Fritha, a 44-year-old pachyderm, was taken to the United States after she was injured during a napalm attack in Viet Nam’s war against America.

She suffered serious burns and soldiers at the time decided she would have a better chance of survival in the US.

Since touching down in America, she has lived at a rescue centre in Orange County.

But it seems she has been harbouring thoughts of returning to her roots.

On Sunday night it appears she hatched a plan to make a bolt for it, possibly after hearing about the good work being carried out at Yok Don National Park which is offering the first ever ethical elephant tours where visitors can experience the animals living in the wild.

Maybe Fritha dreamt of roaming free around the beautiful countryside surrounding Yok Don and interacting with elephants she may have known from the past.

It has been more than 30 years since she left Việt Nam so she is clearly one very homesick animal.

But sadly for Fritha, her plans didn’t come to fruition and after her daring escape she was found wandering down a road in the district of Westtown.

Reports from the US say she got a little peckish after making a run for it, and stopped off at a barn on the way to tuck into some hay, possibly to keep her strength up for the long journey ahead.

She escaped after noticing the electronic fence had not been activated.

Sanctuary owner Amanda Brook told ABC News: "She has an electric fence that keeps her contained, and just human error, they forgot to flip her switch on and it makes a clicking noise and elephants are very, very smart and she knows that clicking noise wasn’t on."

After the alarm was raised, State Trooper Sgt Dave Scott was able to spot the ‘fugitive’ wandering down the street.

Clearly any camouflage Fritha was wearing didn’t help her blend in with her surroundings.

But the trooper still had work to do. Facing off with such a large escapee is certainly a tough task and without the aid of back-up, Scott needed to act fast.

"I don’t know what we would have done if we hadn’t gotten a hold of the owners," Scott said. "It’s not like you can call the local dog warden and have him pick up an elephant."

Thankfully Fritha decided to come quietly and in fact knowing her escape plot had failed, this time, walked peacefully with the cop back to her sanctuary.

She may have lost this particular battle but no doubt is plotting another bid for freedom very soon.

Of all the places to live, it’s fair to say Fritha could have done a lot worse. The sanctuary is based on 270 acres and is home to more than 600 animals including wolves, bears, camels and a tiger. VNS

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Elephant rescued from Vietnam War escorted home after escaping sanctuary

She made her first stop at pile of hay and enjoyed a midnight snack before meandering down the road.

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There is still hope in tackling the world’s illegal wildlife trade

As China relaxes its ban, Rachel Love Nuwer plunges into the dark world of illegal wildlife trade and finds that, against the odds, there is still hope

In 2010, while checking my email at a woefully outdated internet café in rural Vietnam, I received news from a colleague that would change my life: “Don’t tell anyone, but we just got word that Vietnam’s last Javan rhino was found dead with its horn hacked off.”

I was dumbstruck. As an aspiring ecologist conducting research in Vietnam on natural resource use, I knew that poaching affected animals ranging from otters and bears to pangolins and turtles. I had also read news stories about escalating elephant and rhino poaching in Africa. But I had no idea that the situation was so bad as to drive some species to the very brink of extinction.

Over the next months, my thoughts frequently returned to Vietnam’s last Javan rhino – who killed her and why. Most importantly, what was being done to stop other animals from succumbing to the same fate?

Multi-billion dollar industry

I began researching the illegal wildlife trade, a multi billion-dollar industry that is now one of the world’s largest contraband markets. Over 1,000 rhinos of the remaining 30,000 are killed each year, and savanna elephant populations in Africa plummeted by 30 per cent from 2007 to 2014, largely due to poaching for ivory. Millions from thousands of other species are poached each year for jewellery, traditional medicine, trophies, meat, pets and more. The trade also impacts more than just wildlife: it undermines nations by breeding corruption, crime and instability, and regularly costs rangers their lives. Yet despite its scope and severity, illegal wildlife trade is often overlooked by governments and enforcement agencies.

The more I learned, the more I wanted to do something. I thought about becoming a conservation biologist, but after completing my ecology degree I realised that my skills would be better put to use raising awareness about poaching and wildlife trafficking rather than researching it (statistical analysis is not my strong suit). I changed career tracks and became a science journalist.

I’ve since reported dozens of stories on the illegal wildlife trade for The New York Times, National Geographic, BBC Future and others. But I felt what was really missing from the conversation was an overarching explanation of illegal wildlife trade and the complex forces that drive it.

Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking is my attempt to provide this resource. My research took me to a dozen countries, from the killing fields of South Africa to the traditional medicine black markets of China. These journeys of discovery were eye-opening and almost always defied expectations.

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Runaway elephant returned to upstate New York sanctuary

Elephant badly burned by Napalm throughout Vietnam Conflict is discovered operating free in upstate New York after escaping an animal sanctuary when an electrical fence was turned off

A 46-year-old elephant is dwelling after she escaped from an animal sanctuary

Troopers discovered it Sunday evening wandering round in Westtown, New York

The sanctuary admitted that they had by accident switched off the electrical fence surrounding the elephant’s enclosure

Fritha the elephant is from Vietnam and was badly burned by napalm, a chemical present in bombs, throughout the warfare

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Nghe An struggles to deal with wild elephant preservation

Farmers in the central province of Nghe An are worried about wild elephants which have
returned to nd foods at their elds over the last couple of days. A group of wild elephants
from Pu Mat National Forest come to eat sugar cane in Anh Son District, Nghe An Province
in March, 2014. Photo by NTV On November 3, a group of five elephants from Pu Mat

National Forest arrived in Bai Da Village in Anh Son District and damaged a cajeput field.
Local people have had to hang out lights to the cornfields
and around their homes to chase
the animals. To prevent wild elephants from residential areas, a five-kilometre
fence was
installed two years ago but this did not help much. “The village is big and the elephants are
still coming from other directions,” the village’s head, Nguyen Van Chau, said. “Elephants
often come at the end of the year which is also the harvest season of sugar cane and other
crops.” According to a local man, Nguyen Van Thanh, 48, the wild elephants have appeared in
his village every year for over the past 10 years and are becoming fiercer.
“Before we only
needed the gongs and lights to chase them away,” Thanh said. “But now it seems that they
are not afraid of such things anymore. They even attack us.” Explaining for the elephants
becoming fiercer,
director of the Pu Mat National Forest, Tran Xuan Cuong, said that many
areas in Anh Son District used to…

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Vietnam’s first ethical elephant tours launch

Amid growing global condemnation of elephant riding as a tourist activity, Yok Don national park in southern Vietnam has ended the practice and replaced it with the first ethical elephant experience of its kind in the country.

The formally captive group of four elephants were released from their chains earlier this month and no longer carry tourists on rides through the park. Visitors can instead observe the animals roaming freely in their natural habitat.

Previously, the Yok Don elephants, like many around the country, were chained up for extended periods of time, often without access to water. They were harnessed with heavy riding baskets, sometimes carrying tourists around the park for nine hours a day.

The largest of Vietnam’s nature reserves, Yok Don is in southern Vietnam near the Cambodian border, and is home to other wildlife, including leopards, red wolves, muntjac deer, monkeys and snakes.

The park worked on the initiative with Animals Asia, which campaigns for long-term changes in animal welfare and tourism in China and Vietnam. The official agreement between the charity and the state-run park was signed on 13 July, and runs until April 2023, with the first tours taking place earlier this month. Over the next five years, it is hoped that the new model will provide as much or even more revenue for owners as riding, and encourage mahouts and elephant tourism companies to follow suit.

“This project has entirely changed the lives of the elephants at the park and it is also provides a much better experience for the tourists. Exploitation has been replaced with respect, and if successful it’s a model we could see spread across the country,” said Dionne Slagter, Animals Asia’s animal welfare manager. “They all look so much healthier and are increasingly confident in how far they roam.”

The group of retired elephants includes three females, Bun Kham, Y’Khun and H’Non, and one bull, Thong Ngan. The elephants are also now able to form bonds with one another, and are beginning to the display the naturally complex social and emotional behaviour that herds would in the wild.

To help with the transition, UK charity Olsen Animal Trust provided funding to to cover any initial losses, allowing the park to continue employing mahouts and guides to help ensure safety.

Awareness of the negative effects of elephant riding has increased in recent years, with a growing number of tourists avoiding cruel attractions and supporting welfare centres and genuine sanctuaries instead, alongside an increasing number of tour operators refusing to sell elephant treks that include riding.

Many of the elephants used in riding and other activities, such as painting or performing tricks, will have been caught from the wild as babies, their mothers often killed. Once captured, they often undergo intensive conditioning known as “crushing the spirit”, where they are kept in tiny pens and beaten and starved, sometimes for weeks.

In Vietnam, the number of elephants in the wild is estimated to be as low as 65 to 95, which conservationists say is not viable for survival. Numbers have declined dramatically over the past few decades, from an estimated 2,000 in the 1980s. Vietnam’s elephant riding industry also made headlines in 2015, when several animals died from exhaustion. Campaigners and charities hope to continue to educate the industry around the world, and show how profitable ethical elephant experiences, with retired and rescued animals, can be instead.

Responsible Travel has said it will consider adding the new Yok Don tour to their list of ethical elephant experiences – this would be the first in Vietnam to be included.

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Vietnam launches its first ethical elephant experience

Yok Don National Park is now running ethical elephant tours where tourists can come and observe the park’s four elephants from a distance as they roam freely around the forest. Animals Asia, who work for long-term change in the treatment of animals in China and Vietnam, praised the move saying “exploitation has been replaced with respect.”

The move is a huge step for the park. Until very recently, elephants were kept in chains and being used to bring tourists on rides that could last the entire day. This also prevented them from engaging in their natural behaviour, such as foraging, touching each other or drinking water when they needed to.

In order to facilitate the transition, UK charity Olsen Animal Trust has provided funding to ensure that elephant owners will not lose out on their current livelihoods, with the hope that this more ethical approach will have long-term dividends for locals, the environment and the animals.

Already, there is a positive change in the elephants’ behaviour. Dionne Slagter from Animals Asia explained that “in the wild, elephants spend up to 18 hours a day foraging and this is exactly how Yok Don’s elephants now spend the majority of their time. They all look so much healthier and are increasingly confident in how far they roam.”

As awareness grows about the negative impact of riding elephants, more ethical experiences have replaced the rides in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos but Vietnam has been lagging behind on conservation. As a consequence, their elephant population has been in steep decline and there are estimated to be less than 100 wild elephants left in the country, down from 2000 in 1990. 80 more elephants are estimated to be in captivity, most providing rides for tourists.

The park has signed on to this eco-tourism initiative until April 2023 and Animals Asia hopes that it will become profitable by that time, encouraging other elephant facilities around the country to follow their example. There are believed to be 40 captive elephants in the Dak Lak province where the park is located.

So far, early feedback from the first few tours has been encouraging and will help the park grow and evolve their offering over time.

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Yok Don National Park in Vietnam bans elephant rides

Yok Don National Park was inspired by an initiative which has been running from Animals Asia and, as a result, the park’s elephants will now be able to roam free, untethered and unchained.

In the past, the park’s elephants were forced to give rides to visitors all day long. According to One Green Planet: ‘They were chained to trees, with no access to drinking water. And as well as carrying heavy riding baskets on their backs, these poor elephants weren’t allowed to touch each other or express any of their natural behaviors like roaming, dusting, mudding, scratching parasites from their skin or foraging as they would in the wild.’

While it may make for a good photo opportunity, the truth behind elephant rides is often a sad one.

The Animals Asia Foundation reportedly ‘gave the national park $65,000 to support the transition towards elephant watching tourism from July, 2018 to July, 2023’. Vietnam News went on to highlight how the ‘foundation will also send experts and staff to develop and maintain the alternative.’

“The animal welfare-friendly alternative is expected to help improve public awareness about wildlife conservation and promote new alternative tourism to domestic and international tourists.” – Phạm Tuấn Linh, Vice Director, Yok Don National Park

Elephant rides have been a contentious issue for a long time. In a recent blog, PETA outlined several reasons why they are a bad idea, and why they shouldn’t be a part of anyone’s holiday plans.

Reasons include the separation of mother and young, poor treatment, cruel training practices and fatigue. The animal welfare organisation added;

“TripAdvisor, announced that it would end all ticket sales to elephant encounters as part of a broad-sweeping policy change that also prohibits sales for “swim with dolphins” programs and tiger encounters. More than 100 other travel companies have followed suit. If you spot any ads for elephant rides or performances of any kind, please complain.”

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Nearly 1 tonne of elephant tusks, pangolin scales uncovered in Hanoi

Customs officers of Noi Bai International Airport on September 28 seized nearly one tonne of elephant tusks, ivory products and pangolin scales transported from Nigeria.

The products were hidden in 24 boxes sent by two companies based in Nigeria to two companies in Hanoi’s outskirt district of Soc Son through Turkish Airlines on September 21.

The products have been put on the seals. The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology has also taken their samples to trace their origin.

Trading, storing and transporting ivory is forbidden in Vietnam. Violators can be fined from 5-50 million VND or imprisoned from six months to five years.

In August 2017, a “Say No to Ivory” campaign was launched in Ho Chi Minh City with a view to raising public awareness of elephant protection.

The campaign, part of the global wildlife programme “When the buying stops, the killing can too”, was launched by the Centre of Hand-on Actions and Networking for Growth and Environment (CHANGE) and WildAid organisation.

The “Say No to Ivory” campaign is set to last for three years.

In Vietnam, WildAid is focusing on measures to change people’s wrong belief in the uses of wildlife products, including ivory, through communication publications.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the number of elephants in Vietnam has fallen from more than 1,000 to about 100 which mainly live along the border with Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam has become an illegal point of transit for ivory over the last decade.-VNA

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Dong Nai adds more electric fences to protect wild elephants

Dong Nai Province will add more than 20km of electric fence to minimise conflicts between wild elephants and residents in the area.

The Department of Planning and Investment has been working with various units to evaluate the project.

The new fences, which are 20km in length, will extend from Dinh Quan District to Vinh Cuu District. The investment of VNĐ20 billion (US$867) was sourced from state and local budgets.

According to Dong Nai Province’s Forest Department, a herd of 16 elephants has damaged crops and orchards in Dinh Quan District 35 times since the beginning of the year.

Nguyen Viet Phuc, a farmer in Dinh Quan District, said six wild elephants had destroyed his banana crop in only one night.

Due to conflicts between wild elephants and people, a 50-km electric fence was erected from Dinh Quan District to Vinh Cuu District in July last year with capital of VNĐ85 billion (US$3.75 million).

The 50km electric fence is part of the elephant conservation project which began in 2104 and will end in 2020.

However, the former electric fence has yet to separate residential areas and farming areas from natural forests where wild elephants live.

Le Viet Dung, deputy head of Dong Nai Province’s Forest Protection, said that two herds of wild elephants exist in the area. Each of them has six to seven animals per herd.

The elephants have moved along the area of the fence to the end of the fence, destroying farmer’s crops and houses, he added. —

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Dong Nai: Electric fence does little to deter hungry elephants

Dong Nai (VNA) – The 50km electric fence stretching across Vinh Cuu and Dinh Quan district in the southern province of Dong Nai has been unable to prevent wild elephants from looking for food in local farms.

According to the provincial Forest Protection Sub-department, since the beginning of the year, groups of wild elephants pushed past the fence, destroying a vast area of crops and orchard gardens and causing critical losses to local people.

Currently, two herds of elephants, with some six individuals each, are settled near the end of the electric fence, regularly approaching residential areas and trampling over their farming, said Le Viet Dung, deputy head of the department.

Dung said that 50km is not long enough, and that there is still space along the corridor between the residential area and wild elephants’ original habitat.

Conflicts between the elephants and people in Dong Nai province have been intensifying over recent years. The electric fence was erected in the locality as part of the Government’s project on urgent conservation of wild elephants in Dong Nai for 2014-2020.

The fence uses solar energy and a low voltage of 4.5-14 kV. Electricity is switched on and off frequently every third of a second, which helps keep the elephants at bay without inflicting harm on them.

Along the fence, there are many gates for local residents to pass through.

The fence, which was put into operation in July last year, initially prevented wild elephants from wandering into the residential areas of some 50,000 people in Vinh Cuu and Dinh Quan districts. Dung added that the fence has protected 16,000ha of forest land and orchard gardens.

The local Forest Protection Sub-department is asking the provincial People’s Committee and the Vietnam Administration of Forestry to allow construction of an additional 20km of electric fence at an estimated cost of 20 billion VND (880,000 USD).

Dong Nai province is home to some 14-16 wild elephants that are classified as endangered Asian animals in need of protection.-VNA


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Wild elephants destroyed a vast area of local crops.

The 50km electric fence stretching across Vinh Cuu and Dinh Quan district in the southern province of Dong Nai has been unable to prevent wild elephants from looking for food in local farms.

According to the provincial Forest Protection Sub-department, since the beginning of the year, groups of wild elephants pushed past the fence, destroying a vast area of crops and orchard gardens and causing critical losses to local people.

Currently, two herds of elephants, with some six individuals each, are settled near the end of the electric fence, regularly approaching residential areas and trampling over their farming, said Le Viet Dung, deputy head of the department.

Dung said that 50km is not long enough, and that there is still space along the corridor between the residential area and wild elephants’ original habitat.

Conflicts between the elephants and people in Dong Nai province have been intensifying over recent years. The electric fence was erected in the locality as part of the Government’s project on urgent conservation of wild elephants in Dong Nai for 2014-2020.

The fence uses solar energy and a low voltage of 4.5-14 kV. Electricity is switched on and off frequently every third of a second, which helps keep the elephants at bay without inflicting harm on them.

Along the fence, there are many gates for local residents to pass through.

The fence, which was put into operation in July last year, initially prevented wild elephants from wandering into the residential areas of some 50,000 people in Vinh Cuu and Dinh Quan districts. Dung added that the fence has protected 16,000ha of forest land and orchard gardens.

The local Forest Protection Sub-department is asking the provincial People’s Committee and the Vietnam Administration of Forestry to allow construction of an additional 20km of electric fence at an estimated cost of 20 billion VND (880,000 USD).

Dong Nai province is home to some 14-16 wild elephants that are classified as endangered Asian animals in need of protection.-VNA

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Study highlights need for monitoring of online wildlife trade

Viet Nam NewsHCM CITY — Việt Nam’s illegal online trade of wildlife is occurring on websites that end with “.vn” and “.com” domain names, including social media websites, according to a study released recently by TRAFFIC.

The study “Việt Nam Online: A Rapid Assessment of E-commerce Wildlife Trade in 2017” monitored 13 websites ending in “.vn” by using keyword searches for products ranging from elephants, leopards, pangolins, rhinos, Saiga Antelopes, marine turtles and tigers.

Of the websites surveyed, 30 per cent had advertisements for wildlife species’ parts.

From March to October in 2017, 14 of the advertisements offered a total of 1,072 selected wildlife products, but 90 per cent of them were listed in just one advertisement.

All but six of the advertised products were made from elephant ivory, with the remainder coming from tigers.

This was in contrast to previous surveys that included “.com” domain names (including social media websites) that discovered many more advertisements for wildlife products.

A 2017 TRAFFIC survey found a total of 1,095 tiger products offered for sale in 187 advertisements from 85 unique sellers on four e-commerce websites and two social media websites over a period of 25 days.

The majority of the advertisements (95 per cent) were found on a single social media site.

The same site also accounted for 89 per cent of the individual items, excluding items measured by weight.

Online trade in Việt Nam is regulated by the Law on Electronic Transactions and a decree on e-commerce which prohibit the online trade of certain goods, including wildlife where applicable.

People who break the law can be punished with the same severity as those that sell illegal wildlife products in a physical marketplace.

However, collecting evidence and prosecuting online crimes can be difficult.

“Online marketplaces have become attractive to traffickers because they offer anonymity and allow people to connect over large distances more easily than ever before,” said Rosa A. Indenbaum, a TRAFFIC senior programme officer based in Việt Nam, and author of the report.

“Defeating online trade will require diligence, both from enforcement officers and website companies. This study indicates that .com sites, including social media, are where monitoring and enforcement efforts should be concentrated,” she added.

The report recommends that the Vietnamese government ensure effective law enforcement across online channels.

The government has also been encouraged to form a specialised team to focus on online monitoring of wildlife trade.

The TRAFFIC study urges law enforcement personnel and members of the public to report online wildlife crime through the hotline 18001522.

The study was funded by the UK Government through the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund.

TRAFFIC is at the forefront of addressing illegal wildlife trade online. This year, the organisation helped convene the Global Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online with some of the world’s biggest internet companies.

In Việt Nam, TRAFFIC supports the Việt Nam E-commerce Association in its efforts to disrupt illegal online trade through workshops and training events. — VNS

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Yok Đôn National Park ends elephant riding Read more at http://vietnamnews.vn/society/451747/yok-don-national-park-ends-elephant-riding.html#FViOTu2qxpbck018.99

Viet Nam News ĐẮK LẮK — As of this month, Yok Đôn National Park will no longer offer elephant riding for tourists visiting the Central Highland province of Đắk Lắk.

Under an agreement signed by the national park and Animals Asia Foundation on Friday, the park committed to develop an alternative tourism activity designed around watching elephants in social groups within an elephant sanctuary. This will help to move the region away from elephant-riding tourism towards an animal-friendly alternative.

The Animals Asia Foundation gave the national park US$65,000 to support the transition towards elephant watching tourism from July, 2018 to July, 2023.

The foundation will also send experts and staff to develop and maintain the alternative.

They will also help promote the new elephant tourism in the national park to the international community.

Phạm Tuấn Linh, vice director of the national park, said it started shifting from elephant riding to alternative activities step by step three years ago.

The alternative benefited not only the elephants but also their owners, tamers and local community.

“The animal welfare-friendly alternative is expected to help improve public awareness about wildlife conservation and promote new alternative tourism to domestic and international tourists,” he said.

Animals Asia Foundation’s Animal Welfare Director Dave Neale said that the transition to environmentally friendly tourism was a global trend.

In Việt Nam, Yok Đôn National Park is the first one to commit replacing the elephant riding practice with elephant watching, he said.

He added the transition was an opportunity for the national park to ensure welfare for elephants and attract visitors.

There are 45 captive elephants in Đắk Lắk Province. For years, elephant riding has been a popular tourism activity for visitors to the province. — VNS

Read more at http://vietnamnews.vn/society/451747/yok-don-national-park-ends-elephant-riding.html#FViOTu2qxpbck018.99

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