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Activists prevent elephants leaving

Piyaporn Wongruang

Wildlife activists formed a human shield last night to stop the transportation of eight elephants from Kanchanaburi to Bangkok for export to zoos in Australia. About 10 people Led by the head of the Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, Pinan Chotirojseranee, formed a line in front of Mahidol University's wildlife and livestock hospital, where staff of a private freight company and state veterinarians were loading the elephants onto eight trucks.

The blockade formed after police turned down the activists demand that they hold the animals back for further inspection to ensure they were not from the wild.

Thailand and Australia in 2004 signed a memorandum of understanding on an animal swap, under which Thailand would send elephants to Australia in exchange for koalas, kangaroos and other wild animals.

The Australian animals were reportedly to go to the controversial Chiang Mai Night Safari.

The project has been opposed by wildlife advocates who doubt the transparency of the process and amid concern over the alleged maltreatment of the animals.

The transfer has been held up for more than a year as animal rights groups in both countries fought to have the move scuttled.

Mrs Pinan said the scheme was not transparent. At least three of the elephants were suspected of having being poached from the wild and DNA testing should be done to confirm their origins. ''How can you send them out of the country when it isn't clear where the elephants come from?'' she said. It would surely damage the country's reputation and elephant conservation programme if the animals were actually from the wild, she said.

The elephants were due to be airlifted from Bangkok last night, but the convoy could not leave Kanchanaburi province because of the wildlife activists' blockade.

Five of the elephants are headed for Sydney's Taronga Zoo and three for Melbourne Zoo, but only after another three- month quarantine in the Cocos Islands.

Taronga Zoo says on its website they will be used to: establish a regional herd; undertake breeding programs and ensure genetic diversity of the species is preserved; educate visitors about the plight of Asian elephants in the wild; and contribute to long-term elephant research and conservation programs in Thailand. They will be housed in a new area built especially for them.

National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department chief Damrong Phidet said he could not stop the export process, but promised he would launch an investigation into it soon. If the inquiry found that the elephants were smuggled from the wild, they could be returned to Thailand, he said.

There are an estimated 1,600 elephants in the wild in Thailand and about 3,000 tame elephants, officially draft animals.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/06Jun2006_news16.php

Thai activists block elephant transport

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=105120

Tuesday Jun 6 06:23 AEST

AP - Animal rights activists in Thailand have blocked trucks from carrying eight Asian elephants to an airport for a flight to Australia, saying the animals would suffer in captivity in Australian zoos.

The elephants were in separate trucks at a quarantine station in the western Thai province of Kanchanaburi, waiting to be driven to Bangkok airport for the flight to Australia late on Monday night.

But Soraida Salwala, founder of the Thai group Friends of the Asian Elephant, and a local environmentalist stepped in front of the lead truck, blocking its way.

Television footage showed the truck stopping barely 30cm in front of them.

Soraida said the elephants remained in the trucks and she and her colleague were staying inside the university compound which houses the quarantine station. A fence had been erected to keep about 100 supporters out, she said.

Soraida said police had told her she would have to leave because she was on government property, but she vowed to remain at least for the night, despite the possibility of arrest.

Soraida and other opponents of the move said they were concerned about the elephants' welfare, claiming the animals - who will be part of a captive breeding program - will suffer in the confines of the zoos and that the program won't help conserve the species.

Soraida said she would withdraw if the elephants were put back in their stables and the Thai government discussed the issue with the activists.

"I don't want to see elephants in distress," she said.

"They shouldn't have done this in the first place."

The authorities had planned to fly the elephants to a temporary home in Australia's Cocos islands where they were to be quarantined for three months.

The transfer had already been held up for more than a year as animal rights groups in both countries fought to have the move scuttled.

An Australian court in December cleared the way for the move to Sydney's Taronga Zoo and the Melbourne Zoo as long as the zoos met certain conditions guaranteeing the elephants' welfare.

Taronga Zoo has spent $A40 million on a new enclosure, complete with hot and cold bathing areas, an elephant exercise area, waterfalls and ponds and specially designed "sleeping mounds" for the pachyderms.

But Thai and Australian animal rights groups have argued that the animals should be allowed to remain in the wild. The elephants have been kept for a year-and-a-half in quarantine in Thailand while the dispute played out.

"Elephants are a Thai national symbol," Soraida said.

"I don't see why we have to send our animals to other countries. It's not in their behaviour to be away from their herd. I don't want them to be in an enclosure like in prison."

Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell has said the breeding program would help ensure the survival of the species and protect the elephants from conflicts with Thai farmers and a shrinking natural habitat.

Campbell has said that with fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants remaining in the wild, "every attempt must be made to ensure the survival of the species, including through captive breeding programs".