How domesticated elephants can help their wild relations
It is not only Asia's domesticated elephant population that is in crisis. The wild population in many countries is "severely threatened by habitat destruction, poaching and fragmentation into small, isolated groups",according to Richard C. Lair's new book, "Gone Astray: the care and management of the Asian elephant in domesticity".
The Asian elephant has never been selectively bred. Unlike what happened with cattle or horses, for example, people have never systematically chosen elephants to mate to create an ideal temperament or physical type. As a result, the domesticated elephant remains genetically a true wild animal. Also, because most elephants are taken out at night to feed and rest in nature, held only by a tethering chain, perhaps two out of three are preconditioned to the wild and would survive if released. It is as if there were thousands of tigers or Sumatran rhinos or any other endangered species kept by villagers in anticipation of release, a resource unique in wildlife conservation.
The book lists the ways that domesticated elephants could benefit their wild relatives:
Copies of "Gone Astray" can be obtained by faxing Mr M. Kashio at (66-2) 280-0445 or by writing to him at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Maliwan Mansion, 39 Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 12000, Thailand. The author, Mr Richard Lair can be contacted by telephone (66-2) 251-7640 or by email at RLAIR@LOXINFO.CO.TH
30 December 1998