Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Solar Energy News .




FLORA AND FAUNA
Thai police seize 16 'illegal' elephants from tourist areas
by Staff Writers
Bangkok (AFP) Aug 21, 2013


Thai police said Wednesday they had seized 16 elephants from tourist destinations as part of a nationwide swoop on operators suspected of using smuggled wild pachyderms for entertainment.

The animals were removed on Tuesday and Wednesday from camps in the southern and eastern resort areas of Ko Chang, Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga, which are popular with holidaymakers, said Police Colonel Watcharin Phoosit, from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division.

A further planned raid on Friday is expected to seize 10 more elephants from Kanchanaburi in the west, central Chonburi and the northeastern provinces of Surin and Chaiyaphum.

"If the mission is successfully completed on Friday, it will be the biggest seizure we have ever had -- 26 elephants in total," Watcharin told AFP.

Camps and zoos featuring elephants tightrope-walking, playing football or performing in painting contests employ almost 4,000 domesticated elephants for the amusement of tourists in Thailand.

But the capture of wild elephants for entertainment use is banned. Last year Thai authorities conducted several raids on elephant camps and seized some 25 animals.

Wildlife group Traffic, which monitors the trade in animals, said the recent raids were conducted after police found dozens of suspect elephant identification certificates.

"Police believe that elephants were taken from the wild, either in Myanmar or elsewhere, smuggled into Thailand where they were trained, transferred to the camps, and then registered at a later date using these falsely provided certificates," the group said in a statement.

Domestic elephants in Thailand -- where the pachyderm is a national symbol -- have been used en masse in the tourist trade since they found themselves unemployed in 1989 when logging was banned.

Just 2,000 of the animals remain in the wild.

Thailand is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which bans the cross-border trade in elephants, Traffic said.

It welcomed the "significant" swoop but urged the country to tighten its regulations which currently do not require proof that an animal was born in captivity.

"The system thus opens the door to the laundering of elephant calves, with criminals catching these calves from the wild, smuggling them into the country and registering them as domesticated elephants," the statement said.

Watcharin said camps "usually take elephants when they are babies because tourists like them, they are small, easy to be trained and don't eat much."

.


Related Links
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








FLORA AND FAUNA
Warming climate pushes plants up the mountain
Tucson AZ (SPX) Aug 20, 2013
In a rare opportunity to directly compare plant communities in the same area now with a survey taken 50 years ago, a University of Arizona-led research team has provided the first on-the-ground evidence that Southwestern plants are being pushed to higher elevations by an increasingly warmer and drier climate. The findings confirm that previous hypotheses are correct in their prediction tha ... read more


FLORA AND FAUNA
New possibilities for efficient biofuel production

Microbial Who-Done-It For Biofuels

Microorganisms found in salt flats could offer new path to green hydrogen fuel

CSU researchers explore creating biofuels through photosynthesis

FLORA AND FAUNA
Computer scientists envision computer chip working like a human brain

Researchers create 'soft robotic' devices using water-based gels

Talking robot sent to ISS to 'get along' with humans

SkySweeper Robot Makes Inspecting Power Lines Simple and Inexpensive

FLORA AND FAUNA
China to Remain Wind Power Market Leader in 2020

Localized wind power blowing more near homes, farms and factories

Price of Wind Energy in the United States Is Near an All-Time Low

GDF Suez sells half-share of Portuguese renewable, thermal holdings

FLORA AND FAUNA
Birds sense speed limits on roads: study

Waze traffic app integrated in Google Maps

High temperature capacitor could pave the way for electric vehicle

China vehicle sales growth slows in July

FLORA AND FAUNA
Low-temperature combustion enables cleaner, more efficient engines

Fuel Cell Innovation By UNIST Researchers

How shale fracking led to an Ohio town's first 100 earthquakes

Chinese oil imports to reach record $500 bn by 2020: study

FLORA AND FAUNA
Another S. Korea nuclear reactor shuts down

Jordan to build nuclear research reactor

Japan upgrades Fukushima leak to highest level in two years

Radioactive water leak from Fukushima considered 'level 1' incident

FLORA AND FAUNA
NSW Government action on energy efficiency to power up industry

Russia's Lavrov: EU energy market reforms hindering closer ties

China aims to boost green sector

Air conditioners off as S. Korea faces power crisis

FLORA AND FAUNA
To protect Amazon, Colombia enlarges nature reserve

Brazil Amazon town takes a stand against deforestation

Rising deforestation sparks concern in Brazil Amazon

One tree's architecture reveals secrets of a forest




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement