Elephant owners oppose wildlife-protection laws
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Elephant owners are rising up against government efforts to put domesticated pachyderms they own under the wildlife-protection law.
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) is preparing to amend the law to ensure that it covers all elephants in the country.
“We believe the improved law will lead to better control and care for elephants. It should also reduce problem related to the illegal trade of elephants,” DNP deputy director general Theerapat Prayurasiddhi said yesterday.
Officials and nongovernment groups say wildlife traffickers have for years used fake identity papers to claim that elephants caught in the wild are domesticated animals so they can be used in tourist shows and their tusks can be legally sold to make ivory products.
