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Wherever they are - elephants need our support

Category: 1. General News, 4. Welfare News, Elephant Photos, Elephants in captivity, Elephants in the wild | Date: Aug 27 2008 | By: elephantvoices

TheTeach has inspired me to post a few reflections based on our post Elephant welfare - how much do we care?, and her comments afterwards. What each and one of us have to do is to decide what we believe in - which values we want to stand and fight for - which attitudes we want to show towards other creatures like elephants.  But we in the industrialized world can afford to think like this. In many poor countries millions of people have a different reality in their everyday life - they’re struggling to survive. Human-elephant conflicts and destruction of habitat often symbolizes  that we’re not able to accept certain limitations in terms of resources and land - and that local politicians and the global community not have been able to find the balance between the needs of people and other animals. Bad governance, corruption and lack of land use planning and/or it’s implementation are often strongly contributing factors, but let me not go into that. It’s “unpolitical” to talk about the lack of political drive worldwide to discuss and deal with the human population growth, but from my perspective this topic will have to come higher on the agenda if we want to keep elephants (and other wildlife) for future generations. Poverty reduction is another key, closely connected to population growth. Elephants are certainly also about tourism and revenue, and thereby work places and economical growth, so in principle we would all gain on conserving them.

Photo from Joyce and Petter visit to Thailand February 2006
OK - let me stay out of more politics for now - and go back to some of TheTeach’s comments. Since Thailand introduced anti-logging laws in 1988/89 many elephants have ended up on the streets with their mahouts. I do agree that many mahouts have a close and compassionate relationship with their elephants, but it is also a fact that the methods used to “break” the elephant to get them to do what’s expected in the first place is brutal and unacceptable from an elephant welfare perspective. Some projects are working on getting street-elephants or abused elephants back to semi wild conditions - we visited one of these projects a couple of years ago. One very interesting aspect with this particular project is that they employ and retrain the mahouts as field staff, to secure them a job and also make the transition for the elephants more easy. Another remark: Thailand probably have around 3,000 captive (so called domesticated) elephants today, and less than 2,000 wild, compared to respectively 11,000 and 30,000 fifty years ago. But such figures and percentages are symbolic for the destiny of the elephant also elsewhere.

Hairy Asian elephant
Asian elephant with hair style like me…

We do agree with TheTeach that there should be more efforts going into elephant protection and conservation in Asia, which is one reason why we are in the process of expanding our scope to include both African and Asian elephants. And we will for sure expand our WD blog to include our new project - so TheTeach and others can follow it.
Male flirting with females in Minneriya National Park, Sri Lanka
Male elephant flirting with several females in Minneriya National Park, Sri Lanka.

Keep up your efforts TheTeach and others fighting for elephants - they need our help!

Best wishes, Petter

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9 Responses to “Wherever they are - elephants need our support”

Siggi, San Diego, on 27 Aug 2008

Hi Joyce & Petter,
Excellent, excellent blog!
Like said before, many many thanks for all the work you’re doing!
All the very best,
Siggi

TheTeach, Seattle, on 27 Aug 2008

Petter, thanks for that enlightening response and even some honorable mention! I should implore you to note one correction, however. TheTeach is a HE. :) No problem! I’m really looking forward to hearing more about your future work with Asian elephants. I also agree that it is practical to support elephant conservation in a number of areas. My hope is to help sustain several diverse populations throughout different parts of Africa and Asia. These are fastly becoming elephant islands, completely isolated. My hope was that the transect projects in the southern African states would help alleviate this problem. Unfortunately, I now fear these transect travelways will make the animals more vulnerable to poaching, once they leave protected parks and reserves. Recent events in Zimbabwe indicate that the animals are nolonger safe in that country, which is part of the transect project. I read the elephants were fleeing to Zambia and Botswana for safety. It would seem they are safer off staying in the protected reserves even though this places enormous pressures on the surrounding ecosystems and limits genetic diversity. One other question tonight: Do you and Joyce follow or get news of the status of the Zakouma elephant herds in Chad. Mike Fay and NG did an excellent piece on this last year. I’ve heard nothing since. I know you’re busy, so no rush on responding. Once again, whole hearted thanks for your latest post, and your passion to respond. I must say, though, it is you and Joyce, and all your peers (Douglas-Hamilton,Moss,Turkalo,Dame Sheldrick, etc.) in the elephant field who are truly inspiring. This work is so important, and it often seems like only a handful of people have taken up the cause. Thank God those who do are true movers and shakers!
Best Wishes to you all & Godspeed!

Anita, on 28 Aug 2008

I think of it as a calling not a fight.

I believe that anybody that feels the connection with elephants is compelled towards the cause. I’ve never had a close encounter with an elephant but still feel connected. Helping them to co-exist with us is just the right thing to do.

Every day I think of Lucy and pray that she will find a better life at the Elephant Sanctuary. It doesn’t stop there though. When the call went out to save Faa Sai (Elephant Nature Park) we were able to help Lek buy her. The goal was accomplished swiftly. For an elephant lover like me, this is the ultimate; to help an elephant live a better life.

We were shocked and horrified when we heard the ban on elephant poaching in Africa was lifted. We will do what’s needed until the need is fulfilled.

TheTeach, Seattle, on 29 Aug 2008

Anita,
Surely it is a calling to be drawn to the elephant cause with a sense of connection and care, and to partake in impacting their quality of life, but it often seems like a fight due to the adversity they seem to confront just to continue to have a right to exist. The poaching issue really is a war. Gun battles have been fought regularly between bandits and the rangers who protect the animals. Organized crime and its resources are involved in the slaughter and the traffic of wildlife across borders. There is the conflict over land use, and the deaths of elephants and people through altercations from this competition. There’s the struggle of the international conservation communty against the legal ivory trade industry and the politically charged atmosphere in which this occurs. It shouldn’t be this complex for one animal species and its relation to man. But it is.
One of the most unique, intelligent, favorite, and endearing animals favored by humankind, is gradually being destroyed by humankind. It is a crime of unspeakable proportions that must not end in extinction. I think that is why I see it as a fight. The fight has nothing to do with the elephants, themselves. I see them as a benevolent and largely peaceful species who will keep to themselves if left alone. Regrettably, they are at our mercy. The fight is against the forces, attitudes, actions, traditions, practices, and policies, of humanity, which would deny the elephant its very future. That is a fate we must “fight” to prevent with every civilized, legal, financial, and educational tool at our disposal.
Best Wishes.
P.S. I also support the Elephant Sanctuary. So I fully understand the
point you are making here about a calling to protect the individual.

Petter, ElephantVoices, on 29 Aug 2008

Hi TheTeach! Sorry about the “she”, don’t know why that came out… You have some very relevant comments about transect projects, even though the alternatives may be worse. Joyce is in Washington right now (Ringling Case) and will be back for a meeting in National Geographic the week after next. She will there meet Mike Fay and others - will give you a short update about the Zakouma elephants after that.

TheTeach, Seattle, on 29 Aug 2008

Great! Thanks, Petter. I’ll look forward to hearing more in the coming weeks. Glad to hear Fay is still active in the field. That guy is a modern day, eco-friendly Stanley or Livingstone . His adventures have become the stuff of legend in our household. Best Wishes.

Anita, on 03 Sep 2008

I try to stay away from any talk of fight and war because ultimately anything connected to violence will ultimately fail. I am fully cognizant of the devastation in Africa. My efforts will endure whether others choose violence or not.

marcolitot, on 02 Nov 2008

Hello was there ever a reply about Zakouma from Mike Fay ?
regards
Marc

elephantvoices, on 05 Nov 2008

Hi Marcolitot! I’m afraid I don’t have much news about the Zakouma elephants. They have been heavily poached, and I believe they continue to be so, but you better search for other and more updated sources.

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