EDITORIAL
When a concise history of the achievements and failures of the present government comes to be written, an accusing finger will point to the neglect of certain national assets. Wildlife conservation is likely to be one such casualty; the environment another. But the government still has time to redeem itself and its scorecard could be worse.
The year began on a sad note with a 900kg male gaur dying of its injuries after being caught in a poacher's snare in what was supposed to be a protected sanctuary in Chachoengsao's Tha Takiab district. When it comes to firepower, hunters seem to be better-equipped than forest rangers and their murderous efforts have reduced the gaur population to fewer than 1,500. Clearly the balance needs to be tipped in favour of those who will protect what remains of our wildlife, while giving the hunters a taste of what it is like to be the hunted.
Thousands of pangolins have been smuggled to China and a few shipments thwarted. But the biggest and most reassuring wildlife seizure of the year occurred a fortnight ago when 180 foam boxes containing 555kg of rat snakes, Malayan box turtles, yellow-headed temple turtles and snail-eating turtles were intercepted at Suvarnabhumi airport en route to China. All three turtle species are protected by Thai law and international convention. Unfortunately some of the turtles and many of the snakes failed to survive the ordeal.
Now comes a welcome breakthrough by a team of pioneering Thai veterinarians in Lampang who have given a 31-month-old cow elephant, maimed by a landmine, the use of a prosthetic leg. This has raised the hopes of those seeking to save what is threatening to become a dying species.
Once enshrined on our country's flag and regarded as a proud national symbol and treasure, the plight of our remaining elephants is of great concern to conservationists and is one we should all share. With only an estimated 2,000 wild elephants and some 2,500 domesticated elephants left in the country and their numbers dropping by 3% a year, the future is bleak. Our forests, and those of our neighbours, are shrinking at almost the same rate as our elephant population, which, in the 1970s was thought to number more than 10,000.
Many elephants used for hauling logs on the Burmese border have been horribly mutilated by landmines and some of these were callously abandoned and left to fend for themselves or die in the jungle. Others pressed into illegal work in the streets of the capital have suffered from being hit by cars, eating toxic garbage and from disease.
How can we reconcile such brutality and ill-treatment with our recognition of the elephant as a symbol of our nationhood? Elephants have played a vital role in Thai history through their use in victorious military campaigns and even have a special day set aside annually in mid-March to pay them respect and recognition.
They, like much of our wildlife, face difficult and dangerous lives and we should be trying to make them easier. A moratorium must be imposed on their use to haul logs in areas which are peppered with mines. We must also institute conservation measures, renew the campaign to stigmatise ivory and launch a national "save the elephant" campaign at the highest level. If we do not, our descendants may only have pictures to refer to if they want to know what a Thai elephant looked like. Our country might not have any real ones left. And that also holds true of the many other endangered species still fortunate enough to call Thailand their home.
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