Street Elephants
Posted by Stuart at 06:22 PM on January 22, 2003From Reuters "Oddly Enough" news section: "Police in [Bangkok] Thailand are rounding up elephants that roam the capital's traffic-clogged streets to try to reduce accidents and improve the welfare of the beasts that have become the country's national symbol.
"An estimated 150 of Thailand's 2,500 domesticated elephants are loose in Bangkok. Some break legs falling into drains or ditches and an average of 20 road accidents a month involve elephants."
Well, that part of the story is not at all odd to me, considering I pass elephants on the street every night I walk down Silom Road.
The article continues: "Many elephants and their handlers have been drawn to the city because environmental protection laws have reduced traditional logging work.
"A special government mahout team is helping police round-up elephants and send them to the countryside to work, mostly in the tourist industry, Soraida Salwala, founder of non-profit organization Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), told Reuters.
But the campaign has met resistance, often violent, from handlers, who make a living selling tourists fruit to feed the elephants. Police backed off from a tense one-hour confrontation with a group of mahouts with two young bulls over the weekend.
"The handlers held the elephants at knife-point, threatening to kill the chained animals rather than let us take them away. We let them go as the last thing we want is to see the elephants killed," Soraida said."
Ok, so maybe it was that last paragraph that was a bit odd. Seems that killing the elephants would be the same as the proverbial "Goose who lays the Golden Egg".
In any case, it is interesting that not only unemployed PEOPLE from the countryside come to Bangkok for work, but elephants do as well...
