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Elephants on Parade in Laos to Raise Awareness about the Animals

Elephants on Parade in Laos to Raise Awareness about the Animals
Elephants in Laos © Radio Australia

Dozens of elephants, adorned in bright colors and with garlands of flowers, paraded through a Laotian town on Saturday in a celebration of a species that has become increasingly scarce in the Southeast Asian country.

Known historically as the "Land of a Million Elephants", Laos now has only a few hundred left in the wild and not many more than that in captivity, most of which are used in logging.

Elephants take part in a parade during Elephant Festival, which organisers say aims to raise awareness about the animals, in Sayaboury province, Laos February 18, 2017. Image: REUTERS/Phoonsab Thevongsa
Elephants take part in a parade during Elephant Festival, which organisers say aims to raise awareness about the animals, in Sayaboury province, Laos February 18, 2017. Image: REUTERS/Phoonsab Thevongsa

 

Nearly 70 elephants joined the main procession at the 11th annual elephant festival in Sayaboury Province some 200 km (120 miles) northwest of the capital Vientiane.

"The festival is organized to draw the public's attention to the condition of the endangered elephant as well as promoting traditional culture and livelihoods," said Yanyong Sipaseuth, the deputy governor of the province.

Elephants take part in a parade during Elephant Festival, which organisers say aims to raise awareness about the animals, in Sayaboury province, Laos February 18, 2017. Image: REUTERS/Phoonsab Thevongsa
Elephants take part in a parade during Elephant Festival, which organisers say aims to raise awareness about the animals, in Sayaboury province, Laos February 18, 2017. Image: REUTERS/Phoonsab Thevongsa

 

Wild elephant numbers have dwindled because of the destruction of their forest habitat, although poaching for ivory has also played a part, conservationists say.

A ban on capturing elephants from the wild so they can be domesticated has put greater strain on the existing captive population, meaning elephants are often worked so hard that they fall sick and no longer reproduce.

(Reporting by Phoonsab Thevongsa; Editing by Matthew Tostevin and John Stonestreet)


Source : Reuters

Tags: laos elephants
Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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