Prachuap Khiri Khan – A grand feast was arranged for six elephants aged 80 to 95 years old at the Hutsadin Elephant Foundation in Hua Hin district, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, on Tuesday.The feast was organized to celebrate the National Elephant Day on March 13th of every year and was attended by the chairman of the Hutsadin Elephant Foundation, Wanit Henwongprasert, the first mahout of England, Tony Kelly, aged 93, volunteers, local people, and foreign tourists.The feast featured a giant fruit cake consisting of 10 kilograms of bananas, pineapples, apples, corns, and watermelons.A large number of tourists fed the elephants with fruit and took photos of them.Wanit said the event helped promote Thailand’s tourism and Hua Hin, while reminding everyone that Thai elephants are the symbolic animal of Thailand.Please credit and share this article with others using this link:https://www.pattayamail.com/thailandnews/foundation-organizes-feast-for-elephants-in-hua-hin-249380

Six baby elephants, trapped in a mud hole and separated from their parents, have been rescued by a team of park rangers in northeastern Thailand.The rangers came across the elephant calves on Wednesday afternoon as they were struggling to climb the pit’s slippery banks, according to officials of Thap Lan National Park.Some of the rangers went for help, while others spent the night with the baby elephants.On Thursday, as the elephants wallowed together at one side of the pit, rangers at the other side spent four hours using hoes and pickaxes to dig out enough mud to form a ramp.Captive elephants given second chance in Myanmar sanctuary planVideo of the great elephant escape released by the Department of National Parks shows the animals climbing out of the muck and quickly heading into the forest, a few dozen metres away.The rangers cheer the elephants on, with comments like “Go, go on, child!”One elephant struggles, slips and falls, but finally all make it out of the muck.The last of the animals then lingers, after all the others have made it past the tree line. It faces the rangers for a moment, turns, pauses and finally runs into the jungle.Jail for Chinese ‘Ivory

WILDLIFE FORENSICS’ INTENSIFYING ROLE IN ANIMAL POACHING CASES WILL BE AT PLAY ON TUESDAY WHEN JUDGES RULE ON PREMCHAI’S FATEAs there are rarely any witnesses to the crimes, wildlife forensics in recent years has played an increasing role in resolving wildlife crimes in Thai forests.Since forensic investigation in such instances first came into play in the elephant killing cases in Thailand’s largest national park of Kaeng Krachan in early 2010s, wildlife forensics has been applied extensively, especially during the investigation, of which its results are used to accompany police investigation files to be submitted for prosecution.The notable black leopard case awaits a court verdict on Tuesday. “Since wildlife crimes take place largely out of sight, wildlife forensics becomes a significant jigzaw in solving them. The evidence obtained at the scene might be the only thing that helps tell the story,” said Pol General Jarumporn Suramanee, who helped pioneer the knowledge in Thailand.“In fact, evidence is more reliable, compared with witnesses, whose words can be reversed due to fears, or other drives. More critically, the victims of wildlife crimes can’t speak, and that’s why we need the evidence to speak for them.” According to Jarumporn, a member of an ad-hoc panel

A Vietnamese corporation has been accused of exploiting moon bears to entertain tourists near the resort town of Nha Trang, although it said its bears are kept under 'proper' care.Hong Kong-based charity Animals Asia says the Long Phu Corporation kept juvenile moon bears in "deplorable conditions" and "forced (them) to perform bizarre tricks for the entertainment of tourists."The bears are malnourished, muzzled on stage and used for selfies off stage, before being returned to "tiny, barren" cages hidden from visitors."This is the most ruthless exploitation of a protected species. Clearly no thought is given to the welfare of the bears as they endure an utterly miserable existence," Nguyen Tam Thanh, Animals Asia Animal Welfare Department Manager, said in a statement.Vuong Cam Van, a communications officer from Long Phu, told VnExpress International that the company does use bears for circus performances. "But the animals receive proper care." Van said Animals Asia was "overreacting" with its accusations.The mouth muzzle, she claimed, was "to protect the audience as the bears' performances took place in open space."Vietnamese law does not prohibit animal performances, but certain species like bears, macaques and elephants are protected from exploitation, including poaching and trading for profit, according to the

A bold new campaign launched in Ho Chi Minh City late last month focuses on pagodas and aims to educate Buddhists on the devastating impact of the illegal wildlife trade and the importance of these three species. Research has shown that fewer Vietnamese believe in the alleged medicinal properties of these animal parts than in the past. Despite increasing awareness and changes in attitude, massive shipments of ivory and pangolin scales continue to be sent to the country. HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — On Jan. 28, a graphic new anti-wildlife-trafficking campaign called “Be Their Bodhisattva” launched at a major pagoda here in Vietnam’s commercial center. Under the branch of Mahayana Buddhism widely practiced across Vietnam, a bodhisattva is someone who delays reaching nirvana in order to save others from suffering.The campaign, presented by the U.S.-based NGO WildAid and the Ho Chi Minh City-based Center of Hands-on Actions and Networking for Growth and Environment (CHANGE), revolves around hyper-realistic statues of an elephant, a rhino and a mother and child pangolin.These are not your average statues, however. The elephant’s tusks are broken and blood drips down the remaining ivory; all that is left of the rhino’s horn is a bloody stump;

Illegal ivory in containers at Cát Lái Port in HCM City. Surveys recently carried out at 852 retail outlets in 13 locations and 60 individual sellers on 17 online platforms in Việt Nam found more than 10,500 ivory items for sale, demonstrating the persistence of the ivory retail market. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng HảiViet Nam News HCM CITY — Illegal ivory is widely available at physical and online retail outlets throughout Việt Nam, according to a new TRAFFIC report published with support from USAID.The study, “From tusk to trinket: persistent illegal ivory markets in Việt Nam,” documents surveys recently carried out at 852 retail outlets in 13 locations and 60 individual sellers on 17 online platforms.Although selling ivory is illegal in Việt Nam, researchers found more than 10,500 items for sale, demonstrating the persistence of the ivory retail market.But the report also found that retailers are often transitory.Although ivory was found in all 13 locations, its sale appeared to highly transitory in nature: repeat visits found that 43 per cent of retail outlets observed with ivory had only just began to sell, stopped selling or simply closed over the course of the survey. The comparable figure for online retailers was