Dak Lak Province’s famed tame elephants may become extinct in the next 20-25 years due to being exploited excessively, suffering poor care and having no elephant baby born in the past 5 years.

Tame elephants in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak

The population of tame elephants in the Central Highlands has sharply reduced from 502 in 1980 to 298 in 1990, 96 in 2000 and about 50 last year, the provincial Forestry Management Sub-department warned.

The aging of the existing elephants is also alarming, with only 3 of them being under 15 years old.

Such a situation has resulted from the death of many elephants that have been excessively exploited together with the non-reproduction of the population in the past 5 years.

Elephants are not being offered suitable conditions to breed, according to a study on tamed elephants in the province by Tay Nguyen University.

In the past 30 years, only seven out of 37 female elephants have given birth, according to the study.

Meanwhile, poachers hunt elephants for tusks, skin and tail hairs, causing more deaths to the shrinking population of elephants.

In the middle last year, Dak Lak Province Police arrested four poachers for cutting elephant tails and stealing tail hairs.

A tame elephant recently died after being attacked by poachers (CAND Online)

Work exhaustedly, eat poorly

According to researchers, in a natural environment, an adult elephant everyday needs to have 3 quintals of grass to eat and hundreds of water to drink.

Meanwhile, Dak Lak elephants have long been fed less than the rations but they have suffered excessive exploitation by their owners in tourist operations.

Sick elephants have not been given due care nor treated with sufficient medicines.

At the Buon Don tourism area, every elephant has to work hard for 8-10 hours per day and brought VND400,000 (USD19.5) per hour to their owners, but the reward for them is just some canes.

On average, each tamed elephant serves 5-7 groups of tourists daily.

Half of the province’s existing tame elephants are raised by local people and the rest is owned by tourist companies, according to an associate professor at the university.

A local in Buon Don said his elephant had died from exhaustion as it carried timber at night after serving tourists during day time.

Four elephants died due to sickness or killed by poachers in 2010 and two other died in the first 6 months of 2011, the provincial Forestry Management Sub-department said.

No funding

Meanwhile, the province’s VND61 billion (nearly USD3 million) project to conserve its elephants that was approved last November has yet to be developed due to no funding made available for it.

The 5-year project, due to start this year, is aimed at developing the populations of tame and wild elephants sustainably.

It also includes the building of an elephant conversation centre, which includes a clinic for elephants and research facilities that help improve elephants’ reproductive ability.