In mid-July 2023, public opinion across the country was stirred by the image of an elephant named Banang chained and emaciated in Thu Le Zoo ( Hanoi ). There was even a movement to return Banang to the Central Highlands mountains and forests, where he was born and raised. Banang’s fate is not unique, and is even luckier than many of his fellow elephants. Before Banang, hundreds of domesticated elephants have also fallen into “tragedy” with many different heartbreaking stories. One was a Pak Ku in Buon Don (Dak Lak) who was hacked more than 200 times with a hammer and axe, and had his body stolen after he died in 2010. Also during the same period, two elephants serving tourism in Lam Dong province had their tails chopped off by thieves to… make jewelry. Despite the tireless efforts of the government and conservation organizations to preserve and protect elephants, the endemic species of the Central Highlands are still facing a great risk of extinction. On this occasion, Nhan Dan Newspaper would like to send readers a series of articles about Memories of the Central Highlands Elephants , with the hope of helping readers better understand the tragic fate of the Elephant - a symbol that is gradually disappearing without drastic actions from the brave red basalt land. |
FROM H'PLÓ JOURNEY TO THE FOREST
H'Plo is the name of a nearly 50-year-old "elephant" in Krong Na commune, Buon Don district, Dak Lak province. Coming from the forest to the village, H'Plo was domesticated to serve in transporting goods and agricultural production.
As tourism developed strongly in Buon Don in particular and the Central Highlands provinces in general, elephant riding became a typical service of this locality; at the same time, it also brought a significant source of income for many households. At that time, H'Pló had to carry a massive armchair on his back.
For the next 10 years, the life of the “Buon Don elephant” was mostly spent carrying passengers. Like many of her kind, H'Plo was chained all day. She was out of breath during the holidays, and was strictly controlled by the mahout with an iron hook if she did not obey.
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Elephants serve tourists at Lak Lake, Dak Lak province in August 2023. |
Luck came to H'Pló when in 2018, Animals Asia, with the support of the Olsen Animal Trust charity, began implementing the Elephant-Friendly Ecotourism Initiative in Yok Don National Park. The project was born to replace elephant riding and direct experiences with elephants with an elephant-friendly ecotourism model.
That July, Animals Asia committed to providing a maximum of $65,000 over five years (July 2018 to June 2023) to support the development of a non-elephant-riding friendly tourism model.
The main content of the project includes cooperation in propaganda and education to raise awareness of elephant protection and conservation for the communities around the conservation area and across the country. In addition, the project also aims to support consulting on the design of elephant care areas to ensure that they are suitable for the purpose and safe for both elephants and visitors.
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Elephant H'Plo after being brought to Yok Don National Park for care. (Photo: Animals Asia) |
At that time, Mr. Y Lu Eban, the owner of H'Plo, agreed to move the elephant to Yok Don so that the elephant could live freely without having to work every day. In return, his family also received a grant from Animals Asia. And H'Plo became the first "elephant" of the local people to participate in the elephant-friendly tourism model.
At the "new home", H'Pló gradually trained themselves to explore, forage, and swim together in the old forests under the supervision of staff and experts. Also here, after many years, H'Pló was reunited with his old friend who used to carry passengers with him, H'Non. They immediately recognized each other and have been inseparable ever since.
Elephant H'Plo plays in a semi-natural environment with his fellow elephants at Yok Don National Park. (Video provided by Animals Asia)
The National Park website even has a separate section, introducing… brief profiles of each member. That is Bun Kham, a brave elephant sold to Yok Don National Park in the 1990s. At that time, the Park had not been established and it was still a protected area. Bun Kham accompanied the rangers on patrols to the west of the Park near the border between Vietnam and Cambodia.
That is H'Blú, the "older sister" of the herd. At 63 years old, H'Blú has spent a long time working in amusement parks, serving tourists on her back like most other elephants in Dak Lak. In early 2022, H'Blú was... retired and began to enjoy her free time in a semi-wild environment.
That is Thong Ngan, the only and youngest male elephant in the Park. Now 28 years old, Thong Ngan was born in the Suoi Kiet forest area, Tanh Linh, Binh Thuan province, nearly 400 kilometers from Yok Don National Park. In 2001, a conflict between Thong Ngan's family of 9 and local people broke out. During that conflict, 2 elephants died, 1 ran to a nearby mountain, and the rest were brought to Yok Don National Park to be released back into the wild. Thong Ngan was kept by the people as a domestic elephant, first carrying passengers and goods before participating in the friendly program.
...TO HOPE OF "UNCHAIN" THE ELEPHANT
Mr. David Neale, Animal Welfare Director of Animals Asia, said that up to now, in Dak Lak province, Animals Asia has intervened in the welfare of 14 elephants, of which 6 elephants are participating in the friendly elephant experience model at Yok Don National Park.
"When brought back, the elephants will gradually get acquainted with each other, initially from a distance before coming into closer contact, to proceed to pairing and herding, ensuring the correct living habits of the elephants. In addition, we also coordinate with international elephant experts, and veterinarians to regularly monitor the health and welfare of the elephants, to advise and directly treat when necessary. During the herding process, the elephants will be under the supervision of staff, experts as well as experienced elephant trainers so that the elephants are not confused in the new environment," added the Animal Welfare Director of Animals Asia.
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Mr. David Neale, Animal Welfare Director of Animals Asia. (Photo: Character provided) |
According to Animals Asia, domesticated elephants brought into Yok Don National Park have "escaped" the situation of carrying tourists or entertaining at festivals. In particular, elephants are free to move and act according to their natural instincts instead of being chained as is traditional for local people.
A good sign is that at the end of 2022, Animals Asia's elephant welfare project will continue to be implemented in phase 2 with a term of 5 years. On December 15, 2022, the Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee and Animals Asia signed a cooperation agreement to build and implement an elephant-friendly ecotourism model in Dak Lak, aiming to end the use of elephant riding tourism , contributing to elephant conservation.
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| Signing ceremony of phase 2 cooperation agreement between Animals Asia and Yok Don National Park. (Photo: Provided by Animals Asia) |
Animals Asia also pledged to provide the locality with more than VND55 billion to implement the project in the period up to 2026 with the goal of developing a friendly tourism model; thereby preserving and developing the domesticated elephant herd, caring for, ensuring welfare, and prolonging life.
In addition, the project also aims to help elephant owners and riders compensate for the loss of income due to the cessation of elephant riding services; tourist centers are provided with technical support to convert to an elephant-friendly tourism model...
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Animals Asia's elephant care management team at Yok Don National Park. |
At that time, Mr. Tuan Bendixsen, chief representative of Animals Asia in Vietnam, affirmed: In the long term, the program wants to bring all domestic elephants into an elephant-friendly tourism program so that they are properly cared for, creating mental and physical conditions for reproduction and restoring the domestic elephant herd.
The representative of the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center also informed: Currently, the unit is hoping to be able to gather elephants together to create a population, thereby increasing the chance of elephants "pairing" . In addition, Dak Lak province is also planning to build artificial insemination for elephants and is asking for permission to import 4 female elephants of reproductive age from Myanmar to serve conservation work.
In terms of policy, at the 3rd session of the 2021-2026 term, the Dak Lak Provincial People's Council passed a resolution amending and supplementing a number of articles of Resolution 78/2012/NQ-HDND dated December 21, 2012 on a number of elephant conservation policies. Accordingly, the province stipulates support of VND 500,000/female elephant owner/day and VND 600,000/male elephant owner/day during the 30 days of elephants meeting and mating. During the time the elephant is pregnant and giving birth, support is VND 300,000/day for the first 10 months of pregnancy; VND 600,000/day from the 11th month of pregnancy to the sixth month after the elephant gives birth for female elephant owners.
In total, if a female elephant becomes pregnant (22-24 months) and gives birth, the elephant owner can receive about 400 million VND. In addition, the mahout who takes care of the elephant during mating, giving birth, and raising the baby will also receive a support of 200,000 VND/day for 29 months for female elephant mahouts and 30 days for male elephant mahouts.
In order to limit conflicts between elephants and humans, Dak Lak province also prioritizes localities where wild elephants often appear. Specifically, these areas are allowed to establish protection teams, each team has no more than 10 members to monitor and supervise elephant movements, and organize the expulsion of destructive elephants. Each team receives support of 20 million VND and each member is supported with 5 million VND/year.
Organizations, households and individuals living and working in areas where wild elephants live and move, if attacked by elephants, will be supported 100% of the value of damaged assets and 100% of medical examination and treatment costs for injuries caused by elephants. At the same time, individuals will enjoy occupational accident insurance for the percentage of health damage.
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A poster hanging at Ban Don Tourist Area calls on tourists to smile at elephants instead of riding them. |
As for elephant trainers like Dang Nang Long, Y Vinh, and Y Thanh Uong, what they want most right now is to have a forest to graze their elephants.
"We still dream of a plateau, a great forest for elephants to live, mate, love each other and give birth to the next generations before they get too old," the M'nong elephant king prayed lightly. Outside, the Central Highlands sky was still drizzling...
THERE IS A BASIS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROPOSAL TO BRING THE ELEPHANT HOME
Regarding the proposal to bring two elephants from Hanoi Zoo to Yok Don National Park for care , Mr. David Neale, Animal Welfare Director of Animals Asia, affirmed: The above proposal is completely feasible because in reality, it has been proven that the physical and mental health of elephants is clearly improved when exposed to the natural environment.
Concerned about the difficulty of elephants integrating when they are "old", Mr. David Neale cited: Among the 14 elephants that Animals Asia is supporting and caring for, there is H'Khun, an elephant who is 67 years old this year. In addition, there are 3 other individuals who are over 50 years old. These individuals have all adapted well to the new conditions.
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Emaciated elephant at Thu Le zoo (Hanoi) |
In addition, in the world, there have been many successful cases of elephants being transferred from zoos to semi-natural sanctuaries, including the San Francisco Zoo, the Detroit Zoo, and recently the Knoxville Zoo, which is gradually moving its elephant herd to semi-natural sanctuaries. In the United Kingdom, in 1984, the Born Free organization recorded 20 zoos displaying elephants, but now that number is only 11.
Those zoos decided to stop raising elephants and move them back to a semi-natural environment after carefully considering the living conditions and welfare of elephants in zoos, especially zoos built in urban areas with many limitations in terms of area and facilities. After being moved back to a semi-natural environment, the elephants were all grouped together and lived according to their natural instincts.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/hy-vong-tu-viec-coi-troi-cho-voi-nha-post767693.html
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