Thai elephant shipment could be delayed

[Guest guest]

Thai elephant shipment could be delayed

22/07/05

By Ian Black

 

The planned shipment of eight young elephants to zoos in Sydney and

Melbourne could be delayed by Thai conservation activists who are

demanding to know whether the animals were poached from the wild.

 

They fear that if the elephants were caught and not bred domestically,

their capture and export would only encourage the illegal international

trade in live elephants, or their tusks and skins.

 

Thai officials say the paperwork for the animals transfer is in order.

 

But Surapol Suduangkhae, secretary-general of Wildlife Fund Thailand's

northern chapter, said the group would petition the Thai government for

information about the animals' origins.

 

Separately, Thailand's Senate committee on the environment has told

national park and zoological park officials to provide full details

about where the elephants came from.

 

Committee chairman Kaewsan Atipho said: " We are not sure whether they

are wild or domesticated.

 

" The information that we have obtained so far is not clear. We need

reliable explanations from concerned agencies and we expect an answer by

next week. "

 

He also said Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant

Conservation must clarify that the animal shipment to Australia does not

breach any regulations of the Convention on International Trade of

Endangered Species (CITES).

 

Asian elephants are listed in Appendix I of the treaty, which means that

elephant trading is not allowed, except for the purpose of scientific

research.

 

The Australian zoos say that the animals will be part of a captive

breeding program.

 

" As far as I know, the purpose of shipment is not for scientific

research. Some Australians bought the elephants directly from a Thai

businessman, but claimed that it was done by the government. No one has

given me a full explanation, " the senator said.

 

But Senator Thongbai Thongpao said he doubted if the export could be

stopped adding: " I'm afraid everything appears to have been done

correctly. This is an agreement between two governments so it should not

breach the regulations of Cites " .

 

A senior officer from the Zoological Park Organisation said all export

documents had been sent to the national parks department and officials

were waiting for Australia to ship the eight jumbos.

 

They are currently being held at in a quarantine compound at a

university campus in central Bangkok.

 

The junior jumbos were due to be shipped to zoos in Sydney and Melbourne

next early month. A government spokesman said that all the paperwork

required for their export was in order.

 

But Surapol said: " So far there has been no clear explanation. If it

goes on like this, discontent will increase among elephant lovers, not

just here but all over the world " .

 

As part of a government-to-government exchange program the elephants

will be sent to the Australian zoos in exchange for an unspecified

number of koalas, which will be kept at the Chiang Mai Night Safari zoo,

which is due to open in November, in the north of Thailand.

 

Surapol said conservation groups would ask Thai authorities to determine

whether the deal was against Cites.

 

Australia's environment and heritage minister, Senator Ian Campbell,

insists his approval for the animals to be imported to Australia met all

of Cites requirements, and also conformed with the Australian

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

 

But activists here believe the eight elephants are being sold as part of

a purely commercial process, and that they are not being exported for

scientific purposes as the law demands.

 

Will Travers - the son of Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers who starred

in the movie Born Free forty years ago and who is now the CEO of the

Born Free Foundation in England - described the Australian decision to

take the elephants as " deplorable " .

 

He added: " I find it incredible that the minister (Senator Campbell)

should decide to go ahead and approve the import of endangered Asian

elephants-a species which needs protection, not exploitation. "

 

--

Dave Neale

UK Director

Animals Asia Foundation

 

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