Where Are Asias Endangered Wild Elephants?
Date: 17-Mar-08 Country: INDIA About 15,000 Asian elephants live in captivity as work animals, mostly in India, Myanmar and Thailand. By contrast, there are only about 500 captive African elephants, mostly in western zoos, and a wild population of 400,000-660,000 animals. Here are some facts about Asia’s wild elephants and the threats facing them, listed by estimated population size: * INDIA: 23,900-32,900. Home to 60 percent of Asia’s elephants, India has the highest death rate from human-elephant conflict, with 200-250 people and 100 elephants killed annually. Habitat fragmentation, poaching of tusked males, and patchy forest law enforcement are problems, but numbers are rebounding. * MYANMAR: 3,000-4,000. Most large herds live in forested hills by the borders with Bangladesh, India, China, and Thailand. Wild capture was banned in 1994, but captives are still taken to join 4,500 working elephants in logging camps. * THAILAND: 3,000-3,700. Numbers dropped sharply with human population
