Conflict threatens Myanmar’s elephant population
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Phyo/Thet Paing (NP News) - Nov 27
Environmental activists told The Statesman that the current conflicts in Myanmar could be causing the country's elephant population to decline.
A wildlife conservationist has warned that the elephant population in Myanmar could decline significantly due to the ongoing conflicts hindering conservation efforts and encouraging poaching that takes advantage of the unrest, as well as reducing the elephants' grazing areas.
“We have been raising awareness about conservation efforts because there are only about 2,000 elephants left in Myanmar. But since 2021, we have not been able to do any conservation in many of these areas. Some areas have become conflict zones. So one thing is for sure, if there are elephant poachers even during conservation efforts, it will only get worse. And because of these conflicts, the elephants’ grazing lands will only get smaller. We need to restore conservation as soon as possible,” said the wildlife conservationist.
In the past, elephants were killed for their tusks, but later, elephant skins were also traded on the black market, so elephant skins are also being hunted for. In 1941, there were over 10,000 wild elephants in Myanmar, but according to surveys conducted in 2018, there were only about 2,000, and one elephant is being killed every two weeks, said the conservationists.
An elephant in Myanmar has an average lifespan of about 60 years. A pregnancy lasts 22 months, and a female elephant can only get pregnant a maximum of six times in her lifetime. An elephant can travel the length of at least nine football fields in a day, according to a senior veterinarian.
“Elephants need a lot of grazing land. They are a very intelligent species, and they expand their grazing land. When they do this, they encounter people, which leads to conflicts between elephants and humans. It takes over ten years for an elephant to become an adult, including the gestation period. But because of people, their numbers are gradually decreasing,” the veterinarian pointed out.
The first elephant sanctuary in Myanmar, the Rakhine Yoma Elephant Sanctuary, covering an area of 433,843.2 acres (677.88 square miles) in Thandwe and Gwa townships in Rakhine State, was established on February 5, 2002, but is currently without a keeper due to conflicts. –