Burma-Thailand elephant smuggling accusation

Asian elephants are being smuggled from Myanmar into neighbouring Thailand for “elephant trekking” tourism, a new report by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC reveals today.

Over the last decade around 250 live elephants have been smuggled out of the country and the species also faces the threat of continuing illegal trade in ivory. TRAFFIC surveyed 14 markets in Myanmar and three border markets in Thailand and China finding 9000 pieces of ivory and 16 whole tusks for sale.

Retailers generally displayed ivory and other elephant parts quite openly and rarely hesitated in disclosing smuggling techniques and other illegal activities to TRAFFIC staff posing as potential buyers.

Chris Shepherd, Senior Programme Officer with TRAFFIC said the report confirmed a serious lack of law enforcement and a blatant disregard for international conventions and national laws in Myanmar and neighbouring states. The smuggling of live elephants, ivory and other elephant parts out of Myanmar and into neighbouring China and Thailand is also in contravention of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

“Females and juvenile elephants are particularly targeted to supply the demand from the tourism industry in Thailand, where they are put to work in elephant trekking centres,” said Shepherd. “Our research found evidence of corruption allowing the illicit smuggling of ivory and elephants to take place.”

No cross-border trade of live elephants has been reported to CITES by either Myanmar or Thailand. Some of the traders questioned claimed elephants had disappeared from parts of Myanmar, despite suitable habitat remaining, because they had been captured for the live trade.

“Anecdotal reports of elephant disappearances, together with the large volume of ivory and elephant parts consistently observed for sale at markets over a period of several years suggests that trade poses a significant threat to the survival of Asian Elephants in Myanmar,” said Vincent Nijman, a co-author of the report.

TRAFFIC and WWF call on authorities in Myanmar to work closely with enforcement officers in neighbouring Thailand and China to address the illegal trade in live elephants and ivory. Both Thailand and Myanmar are also members of the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network, a regional network established to promote cross-border collaboration to tackle illegal wildlife trade.

“Thailand and China must do much more to increase enforcement and crack down on this insidious trade,” said Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme.

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Notes

TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, works to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature. TRAFFIC is a joint programme of IUCN and WWF.

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