Following years of criticism from Animals Asia, Saigon Zoo has ended all elephant performances.Saigon Zoo, the biggest in Vietnam, has ended all live elephant performances following years of opposition by Animals Asia.For years, four elephants have been forced to perform tricks, such as rearing up on their hind legs and standing on stools every weekend and on public holidays.These activities cause great suffering to the animals as they are forced to behave unnaturally and in manner which can cause long-term harm to their bodies. Such activities can only be achieved through the threat of violence in the form of spiked sticks known as bullhooks.While the zoo made no formal announcement that the shows have ended, Animals Asia has gained assurances that they have not taken place since December 2018 and will not be reintroduced.Animals Asia has opposed the elephant performances since 2016 when the charity began liaising with the zoo and the Vietnamese Zoo Association.Animals Asia Animal Welfare Director Dave Neale said:“We are absolutely delighted that Saigon Zoo has realised the elephant shows are cruel, out-dated and utterly at odds with the principles of animal welfare.”Saigon Zoo owns six Asian elephants, four of whom were forced to perform. All six

This soulful and sociable elephant is named Mae Dok.Mae Dok is nearly 60 years old and she's spent her entire life in a small town in Thailand, where she was an attraction for tourists. Mae Dok spent years standing by a small bridge, begging for treats.Now that's her old life. It's "the life she can put behind her," according to Emily McWilliam, cofounder and manager of Burm & Emily's Elephant Sanctuary (BEES) in Chiang Mai, Thailand. "Never to stand and beg for sweets under the bridge in the touristic village again," McWilliam told The Dodo.Just last week, as Mae Dok was taking a dip in a small stream in the village, she had no reason to believe that her whole life was about to change.But rescuers from BEES were standing by, taking pictures of her last day in that village. If you look closely, you can spot the chain draped over her back, as if a symbol of the old life."She was chained on a long chain in an overgrown farm on the edge of her home village, munching on grasses and splashing with mud," BEES wrote. "Her family came to visit her throughout the day to say goodbye and

A budget of Bt1.74 billion has been set aside in 2019 to protect farmers against damage to their rice and a further Bt212.8 million for damage to their maize grain, which the farmers grow commercially for livestock animals' feed industry, said Natthaporn Chatusripitak, spokesman for the deputy prime minister in charge of the economy. The insurance schemes have also been set up to provide two tiers of coverage, tier 1 for a basic insurance policy and tier 2 for a more comprehensive option, which caters both to those willing to pay more for greater protection and to those taking out insurance for the first time. Besides the usual cover for flood, drought, storms/typhoons, cold weather/frost, and fire, the insurance schemes would now also cover damages caused by wild elephants’ intrusion, Natthaporn said.Wild elephants have been a menace for decades to people living near forest zones across Thailand, with numerous cases of invasion of farms and houses. The issue of wild elephants intruding on to farmland has been severe in recent years. Many cases have made headlines, including one incident in Nakhon Si Thammarat province last month, in which 7-8 wild elephants from Khao Luang forest destroyed orchards in tambon Kha

Ya Tao now lives alone deep in the forest at Chu Mo Commune in Ia Pa District. As the forest continues to disappear, it takes almost two hours for its owner, Ksor Aluh, to walk to its place."I have to visit her every day to bring leaves and trees or take her to find food in the forest," Aluh said. "Food has become increasingly scare due to deforestation."According to Aluh, the two provinces of Gia Lai and Kon Tum in the northern central highlands used to be well-known for taming a large number of wild elephants. But the mighty animals have largely died due to war bombs, old age, and deforestation."Now Ya Tao is our only elephant left, and also the last in this northern central highlands region," he said. "My father-in-law bought her in 1990 to mate with his male elephant, Bak Xom. But Bak Xom and some other domesticated elephants in the area suddenly died from diseases in 1995, leaving her alone."Aluh said that after his father-in-law died, some people paid VND1.5 billion (USD65,217) to buy Ya Tao, but his family want to keep her because she is considered a sacred animal and pride of the family and

The Uganda Revenue Authority working with security personnel have today intercepted three trucks of smuggled elephant tusks and pangolin scales at Elegu border post, on the Uganda- South Sudan border.Although details are still scanty, the tax body says two Vietnamese were arrested and are helping police with investigations.According to URA’s twitter feed, the tusks and scales had been meticulously sealed and it took an non-intrusive cargo scanner to discover them.Dickson’s Kateshumbwa, the Commissioner Customs notes that these were nabbed at Elegu border coming from democratic republic of Congo transiting through Uganda to be taken to Vietnam.Following a tip off from the intelligence, two Vietnam nationals have been arrested in custody of three containers each carrying over 750 pieces of ivory which are estimated to be from over 300 elephants and yet to be identified tones of pangolin scales.Dickson Kateshumbwa the customs commissioner general says that at Elegu border scanners gave them confusing pictures which forced them to do a detailed search.“These people declared timber as the consignment being taken to Vietnam but due to our intelligence we intercepted them since the scanner couldn’t give us a clear picture,” Kateshumbwa said.The ivory was hidden in the timber.This has been the most