Elephants of Thailand



The baby elephant shows at the elephant camp, Ayutthaya
    Today, probably because of the dwindling pachyderm population, it has become a matter of considerable public concern. It is estimated that only 3,00 elephants are left in various parts of Thailand. The largest number, around 200 to 250, can be found in the north-eastern province of Surin. Elephants seenroaming streets throughout the country come mainly from Surin province.
The reason why homeless elephants have to walk along the city streets, running the risk of being hit by cars, is because their owners can't afford to feed them. According to statistics compiled by Thai Airways Interntional's "Surin Jumbo Village Foundation," the per capita income of a resident of Surin is 13,500 baht per annum, or 125 baht per person per month. Just 37.8 baht per day! Such figures are found among provinces with a low per capita income. With regard to mahouts, their average income is only seven baht per person per day, while the cost of food for one elephant is 10,000 baht per month. (Now 1$ = 38.85ß, May 12, 1998.)
To leave elephants in their natural habitat is to condemn them to starve to death. Both th elephants and mahouts are able to fill their stomachs by roaming in streets in cities and towns. Mahouts can earn money by selling fruits and vegetables to passers-by for them to give to the elephants. Or they can charge folk for walking under the elephant's belly.
On elephant weights almost 3,000 kilograms and consumses about sixty kilograms of food a day - the equivalent of two percent of its own weight. Surin Jumbo Village Foundation offers two solutions to this problem: firstly to provide elephants with shelters full of grass, plants and herbs to cure sick animals; secondly to keep wandering elephants off the streets.
These solutions need a helping hand from both the public and private sectors. The continuing economic slump does not help the situation.
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Information : Hungry Elephants, Art of Living Magazine, Thailand, P. 25.