Hundreds of timber elephants belonging to the government’s Myanma Timber Enterprise are set to be retired from logging this fiscal year, according to state media.
The initiative is part of efforts to stop the deforestation which has claimed swathes of the country’s natural landscapes, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
“One day, our forests will cease to be logged,” said Myo Min, director of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, which manages the MTE. “In anticipation of this event, we aim to utilize our elephants for other purposes, such as within the tourism sector – at Ahlaungdaw Kathapa National Park, for example.”
The tradition of using elephants for timber dates back centuries. Around 5,000 of the animals are estimated to live in captivity in Myanmar, more than half belonging to the MTE, Al-Jazeera reported in 2013.
According to that report, private contractors hired by the government worried that the crackdown on logging would mean a bleak future for their elephants. One man interviewed said the financial squeeze could force him to sell his animals, raising the possibility of abuse or exploitation.
The government, in cooperation with animal welfare charity Four Paws International, has announced it plans to build a center in Bago Region for retired animals.
