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Working elephants of Burma make a l
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Working elephants of Burma make a last stand in forest
The Asian Age (New Delhi)
March 6, 2001
By Denis D. Gray
(Shwe Pyi Aye Camp) Burma, March 5: Deep in a jungle where motors fear
to tread, a bull elephant drives his tusks, trunk and forehead against
two tons of felled teak, sending the log crashing down a steep
riverbank.
Nearby, three workmates power their way through the forest, flicking
aside thick branches, shoving logs into clearings and hauling them away
with chains. ?Swe, swe? ? ?pull? ? shouts a rider, using one of 28
commands obeyed by these ?living vehicles,? intelligent, indispensable
labourers of Asia?s forests for hundreds of years.
But across the continent, elephants have lost one job after another:
first as battle ?tanks,? then beasts of burden, finally as loggers. In
neighbouring Thailand, a dramatically shrinking elephant population is
relegated to tourist rides and carnivals. The working elephant and the
ancient traditions that go with it are making their last stand in Burma
also known as Myanmar. At least as long as the forests remain ? and they
appear to be rapidly vanishing.
Richard Lair, an expert on the species, estimates Burma is home to as
many as 7,000 domesticated elephants ? more than 30 per cent of the
world?s population ? and up to 6,000 wild ones. ?Elephant-wise, Burma is
in an entirely positive sense a living museum, seemingly frozen in time
decades or even e\centuries ago,? said the Thailand-based Mr. Lair.
Burma?s elephant men hope it long will remain one. ?Vehicles can?t go up
there,? says Wan Thun, a veterinarian and elephant manager, pointing to
a steep, forested hillside. ?Our terrain and weather won?t allow
mechanical vehicles, so elephants have a good future.? Mechanised
logging is feasible when forests are clear-cut, but the government?s
Burma timber enterprise, which has a monopoly on teak extraction, uses a
selection system inherited from British colonial days. (AP)
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<center><b><font color="#0000FF"><font size=+2>Working elephants of Burma
make a last stand in forest</font></font></b></center>
<p><font color="#CC0000"><font size=+1>The Asian Age (New Delhi)</font></font>
<br><font color="#CC0000"><font size=+1>March 6, 2001</font></font>
<p><font size=+1>By <font color="#660000">Denis D. Gray</font></font>
<p><font size=+1><b><font color="#CC0000">(Shwe Pyi Aye Camp) Burma, March
5:</font></b> Deep in a jungle where motors fear to tread, a bull elephant
drives his tusks, trunk and forehead against two tons of felled teak, sending
the log crashing down a steep riverbank.</font>
<p><font size=+1>Nearby, three workmates power their way through the forest,
flicking aside thick branches, shoving logs into clearings and hauling
them away with chains. ?Swe, swe? ? ?pull? ? shouts a rider, using one
of 28 commands obeyed by these ?living vehicles,? intelligent, indispensable
labourers of Asia?s forests for hundreds of years.</font>
<p><font size=+1>But across the continent, elephants have lost one job
after another: first as battle ?tanks,? then beasts of burden, finally
as loggers. In neighbouring Thailand, a dramatically shrinking elephant
population is relegated to tourist rides and carnivals. The working elephant
and the ancient traditions that go with it are making their last stand
in Burma also known as Myanmar. At least as long as the forests remain
? and they appear to be rapidly vanishing.</font>
<p><font size=+1>Richard Lair, an expert on the species, estimates Burma
is home to as many as 7,000 domesticated elephants ? more than 30 per cent
of the world?s population ? and up to 6,000 wild ones. ?Elephant-wise,
Burma is in an entirely positive sense a living museum, seemingly frozen
in time decades or even e\centuries ago,? said the Thailand-based Mr. Lair.</font>
<p><font size=+1>Burma?s elephant men hope it long will remain one. ?Vehicles
can?t go up there,? says Wan Thun, a veterinarian and elephant manager,
pointing to a steep, forested hillside. ?Our terrain and weather won?t
allow mechanical vehicles, so elephants have a good future.? Mechanised
logging is feasible when forests are clear-cut, but the government?s Burma
timber enterprise, which has a monopoly on teak extraction, uses a selection
system inherited from British colonial days. (AP)</font>
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