Elefantasia
Encyclopedia
ElefantAsia is a non-profit organisation dedicated towards the protection of the Asian elephant
, Elephas maximus. This organisation operates in Laos PDR (Laos
) where today there are only 1500 Asian elephants remaining, 560 of these domesticated and working with their mahouts.
Created by Sebastien Duffillot and Gilles Maurer, ElefantAsia has been working in Laos, the Land of a Million Elephants
since 2001. Much of their organisation’s work is conducted in the Sayaboury, or Xaignabouli Province of Laos
, which is home to an approximate 75% of the country’s domesticated elephant population.
and its habitat will disappear from Laos
within only a number of years. This is because information collation, surveying and national census have proved ineffective at providing accurate data on wild and domestic elephant populations. ElefantAsia is attempting to reverse this trend by concentrating conservation efforts in three main areas:- veterinary, educational and economical support. ElefantAsia has developed a veterinary care unit and carries out public awareness campaigns and environmental education within Laos
.
The first Elephant Festival was held in the Xaignabouli Province and attracted more than 10,000 people in celebration of this endangered national treasure. In 2008 over 50,000 people crowded to attend the festival.
, the Mobile Veterinary Unit is especially designed to dispense medical care to domesticated elephants. ElefantAsia’s veterinary team visits logging sites, tourist camps and villages where elephants are employed to ensure they are receiving adequate healthcare. This is necessary as vaccinations are not available, medical treatment is rare and medication dosages are hardly ever adhered to.
Today in Laos
the domesticated elephant population only has 2 births for every 10 deaths. The main cause for their decline is that they are rarely given the opportunity to reproduce. ElefantAsia is implementing an incentive scheme for Lao mahouts to voluntarily enter their elephants into a reproductive breeding program.
The aim of ElefantAsia’s breeding program is to understanding the problems which discourage elephant owners from breeding their elephants, and finding alternative methods of income for mahouts, elephant owners and their families.
is home to an approximate 560 domesticated Asian elephants. Most are engaged in timber harvesting operations and sadly contribute to the destruction of wild elephant habitat. Yet these elephants are very valuable as they contribute to the national economy. A community of approximately 12,500 people directly depend on revenue generated by their work.
Traditionally elephants from wild populations were captured and domesticated by skilled mahouts. Since capture from the wild has been banned by the government, the domesticated population has plummeted. With an increase in demand for elephants by the logging industry, the animals are made to work at a furious pace. They are overworked and exhausted and therefore do not reproduce. As the age of the average domesticated elephant is rising, the self-perpetuation of the population is at jeopardy.
animist beliefs, the souls of a human being or animal normally occupy and vitalise specific areas of the body, but sometimes leave in times of strong emotion if tempted away by another being or an attractive place, or if captured by a malevolent spirit.
Their absence is likely to cause danger, disease, or even death. To avoid such disaster, the souk khouan ritual (‘calling back the souls’) is organised and family, friends and neighbours invited. A celebrant appeals across various different worlds, calling for the absent souls to return without delay. To attract them, delicacies are placed on a round plate below a pyramid of flowers: eggs, chicken, rice, cakes and so on.
After repeated calls, the souls are presumed to have returned to their host body and the celebrant ties white cotton threads to the patient’s wrists (or ears or legs in the case of elephants and buffalo, the only animals that this ritual is held for).
The souk khouan rite is practised at times of disease, before departures, on arrivals, at marriages or professional promotions - in short, on any occasion likely to cause the souls to leave, and such events are numerous in Laos
.
, or elephant keeper, is usually from a family line of mahouts that have amassed knowledge about these animals over the centuries. Mahouts possess the skills to control elephants and the knowledge of how to care for them on a daily basis. They also understand the habits of the wild animals; how to diagnose diseases; how to judge an individual elephant’s character, abilities, and relationships within a domesticated herd; what traumatic memories an elephant has and how they might affect its behaviour; how to make and use a harness, how to read tracks in the jungle, and a thousand other details.
As the life expectancy of a man and an elephant are more or less equal, a young mahout
is usually chosen to train and raise a young animal. Ideally the mahout
will become very personally involved so that when a 15-year-old animal begins its career with a mahout
of the same age, several decades together await them. At forty years, when both reach their peak, their relationship will be extremely close.
Asian Elephant
The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....
, Elephas maximus. This organisation operates in Laos PDR (Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
) where today there are only 1500 Asian elephants remaining, 560 of these domesticated and working with their mahouts.
Created by Sebastien Duffillot and Gilles Maurer, ElefantAsia has been working in Laos, the Land of a Million Elephants
Asa Baber
Asa Baber was an American author, former Marine, and columnist for Playboy.Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, Baber was involved in several incidents of petty mischief before his grandmother arranged for him to attend the Lawrenceville Academy, a prestigious boarding school in New Jersey...
since 2001. Much of their organisation’s work is conducted in the Sayaboury, or Xaignabouli Province of Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, which is home to an approximate 75% of the country’s domesticated elephant population.
What they do
If economic pressures and changing ways of life continue unchanged, the Asian elephantAsian Elephant
The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....
and its habitat will disappear from Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
within only a number of years. This is because information collation, surveying and national census have proved ineffective at providing accurate data on wild and domestic elephant populations. ElefantAsia is attempting to reverse this trend by concentrating conservation efforts in three main areas:- veterinary, educational and economical support. ElefantAsia has developed a veterinary care unit and carries out public awareness campaigns and environmental education within Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
.
The Elephant Festival
In cooperation with the National Tourism Authority, ElefantAsia organised the Elephant Festival each year since 2007.The first Elephant Festival was held in the Xaignabouli Province and attracted more than 10,000 people in celebration of this endangered national treasure. In 2008 over 50,000 people crowded to attend the festival.
Mobile Veterinary Unit
ElefantAsia created the Mobile Veterinary Unit to provide ‘house calls’ to domesticated elephants working in remote areas. Operating in the Xaignabouli province of LaosLaos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, the Mobile Veterinary Unit is especially designed to dispense medical care to domesticated elephants. ElefantAsia’s veterinary team visits logging sites, tourist camps and villages where elephants are employed to ensure they are receiving adequate healthcare. This is necessary as vaccinations are not available, medical treatment is rare and medication dosages are hardly ever adhered to.
Breeding Program
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
the domesticated elephant population only has 2 births for every 10 deaths. The main cause for their decline is that they are rarely given the opportunity to reproduce. ElefantAsia is implementing an incentive scheme for Lao mahouts to voluntarily enter their elephants into a reproductive breeding program.
The aim of ElefantAsia’s breeding program is to understanding the problems which discourage elephant owners from breeding their elephants, and finding alternative methods of income for mahouts, elephant owners and their families.
The domesticated elephant
LaosLaos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
is home to an approximate 560 domesticated Asian elephants. Most are engaged in timber harvesting operations and sadly contribute to the destruction of wild elephant habitat. Yet these elephants are very valuable as they contribute to the national economy. A community of approximately 12,500 people directly depend on revenue generated by their work.
Traditionally elephants from wild populations were captured and domesticated by skilled mahouts. Since capture from the wild has been banned by the government, the domesticated population has plummeted. With an increase in demand for elephants by the logging industry, the animals are made to work at a furious pace. They are overworked and exhausted and therefore do not reproduce. As the age of the average domesticated elephant is rising, the self-perpetuation of the population is at jeopardy.
Lao culture and the Asian elephant
Asian elephants have played an integral role in Lao cultural traditions and practises. They even hold a role in the ancient Bacci ceremony. According to traditional LaosLaos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
animist beliefs, the souls of a human being or animal normally occupy and vitalise specific areas of the body, but sometimes leave in times of strong emotion if tempted away by another being or an attractive place, or if captured by a malevolent spirit.
Their absence is likely to cause danger, disease, or even death. To avoid such disaster, the souk khouan ritual (‘calling back the souls’) is organised and family, friends and neighbours invited. A celebrant appeals across various different worlds, calling for the absent souls to return without delay. To attract them, delicacies are placed on a round plate below a pyramid of flowers: eggs, chicken, rice, cakes and so on.
After repeated calls, the souls are presumed to have returned to their host body and the celebrant ties white cotton threads to the patient’s wrists (or ears or legs in the case of elephants and buffalo, the only animals that this ritual is held for).
The souk khouan rite is practised at times of disease, before departures, on arrivals, at marriages or professional promotions - in short, on any occasion likely to cause the souls to leave, and such events are numerous in Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
.
The mahout
The mahoutMahout
A mahout is a person who drives an elephant. The word mahout comes from the Hindi words mahaut and mahavat. Usually, a mahout starts as a boy in the 'family business' when he is assigned an elephant early in its life and they would be attached to each other throughout the elephant's life.The most...
, or elephant keeper, is usually from a family line of mahouts that have amassed knowledge about these animals over the centuries. Mahouts possess the skills to control elephants and the knowledge of how to care for them on a daily basis. They also understand the habits of the wild animals; how to diagnose diseases; how to judge an individual elephant’s character, abilities, and relationships within a domesticated herd; what traumatic memories an elephant has and how they might affect its behaviour; how to make and use a harness, how to read tracks in the jungle, and a thousand other details.
As the life expectancy of a man and an elephant are more or less equal, a young mahout
Mahout
A mahout is a person who drives an elephant. The word mahout comes from the Hindi words mahaut and mahavat. Usually, a mahout starts as a boy in the 'family business' when he is assigned an elephant early in its life and they would be attached to each other throughout the elephant's life.The most...
is usually chosen to train and raise a young animal. Ideally the mahout
Mahout
A mahout is a person who drives an elephant. The word mahout comes from the Hindi words mahaut and mahavat. Usually, a mahout starts as a boy in the 'family business' when he is assigned an elephant early in its life and they would be attached to each other throughout the elephant's life.The most...
will become very personally involved so that when a 15-year-old animal begins its career with a mahout
Mahout
A mahout is a person who drives an elephant. The word mahout comes from the Hindi words mahaut and mahavat. Usually, a mahout starts as a boy in the 'family business' when he is assigned an elephant early in its life and they would be attached to each other throughout the elephant's life.The most...
of the same age, several decades together await them. At forty years, when both reach their peak, their relationship will be extremely close.