• Burmese
Saturday, June 14, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
25 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Human-Elephant Conflict Threatens Wild Elephant Population

Tin Htet Paing by Tin Htet Paing
July 15, 2016
in Burma
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
Human-Elephant Conflict Threatens Wild Elephant Population

A group of six wild elephants seen in central Burma’s Natmauk Township

4.9k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — She was born in a small ravine in Burma’s Southern Arakan mountain range bordering the Irrawaddy Division. The heavy raindrops of monsoon season were her first shower.

Deep forests in the Arakan mountain range would have been her home if her mother hadn’t left her in the ravine when bamboo harvesters shooed her away without knowing they were together. The bamboo harvesters brought the wild, newborn elephant to Dr. Myo Min Aung, veterinarian and head of the Myanmar Timber Enterprise’s (MTE) Emergency Elephant Response Unit in Irrawaddy Division.

He named her “Mi Kaunt Ya”— which translates to “adopted girl”. She survived for 23 days and died from diarrhea on July 3 at the Thayet-san elephant camp in Irrawaddy’s Hinthada district.

RelatedPosts

Plundering Paradise: China’s Role in Myanmar’s Environmental Crisis

Plundering Paradise: China’s Role in Myanmar’s Environmental Crisis

January 24, 2025
1.7k
Renowned Myanmar language teacher John Okell is still inspiring students, five decades on.

Love of the Lingo

August 5, 2020
10.2k
Jade prospectors pick through discarded earth at a disposal site for a jade mine in Hpakant, Kachin State. / C Thu / Myitkyina Journal

Myanmar’s Jade-Rich Hpakant Caught in a ‘Winner’s Curse’

July 13, 2020
7.8k

“Her case is one of many consequences of human-elephant conflicts,” Myo Min Aung told The Irrawaddy, explaining how his team tried to care for the days-old Mi Kaunt Ya.

“It was actually a misunderstanding between the bamboo harvesters and the mother elephant,” he said. “The mother elephant wasn’t there to harm anyone but was giving birth to her child.”

He added that similar human-elephant conflicts happen in Irrawaddy Division frequently, as the region has a remarkable concentration of wild elephants.

Burma is home to 4,000-5,000 wild Asian elephants and has the world’s largest captive elephant population with nearly 5,000, according to the UK-based EleAid Asian Elephant Conservation. The country’s wild elephant population has been in dramatic decline throughout the past few decades, due to loss of habitat and illegal poaching and trading of elephant body parts, EleAid said.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Myanmar) facilitated a workshop in Naypyidaw last week to address human-elephant conflict and conservation of the country’s wild elephant population.

Human-elephant conflicts happen when wild elephants come close to villages where there could be paddy fields, in search of food because of the loss of their original habitat, Ye Min Thwin, WWF-Myanmar communication officer, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

“When wild elephants come close to humans, people shoo them away or capture them,” he said. “Our plan is to find ways that could minimize harm for both parties, in areas where the possibility of frequent conflict between the two sides exists.”

He explained that the conflict will not cease completely. But when working toward conservation efforts, people who live in communities near elephant habitats need to be educated in order to adapt their behaviors during such conflicts, he added.

Conserving elephant habitats—the most effective way to reduce these conflicts—is not only advantageous to humans and elephants, but also benefits other wild animals, forestry conservation and climate, Ye Min Thwin of WWF-Myanmar said.

Burma started designing the Myanmar Elephant Conservation Action Plan (MECAP) last year in coordination with international environmental conservation groups and the draft is almost complete, according to WWF-Myanmar.

A group of six wild elephants seen in central Burma’s Natmauk Township, August, 2015. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)
A group of six wild elephants seen in central Burma’s Natmauk Township, August, 2015. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)

Last August, a group of six wild elephants got lost in central Burma and wandered around, destroying paddy fields and scaring local villagers. Officials from the forestry department had to get them back to the forest. Unfortunately, one baby elephant was separated from the group and had to be kept under the forestry department’s control.

During the workshop in Naypyidaw last week, the minister of natural resources and environmental conservation highlighted the increase of land utilization and illegal hunting, which contribute to frequent incidents of human-elephant conflict.

Recognizing the decline of the elephant population in the country, minister Ohn Win said, “It is important to address weak policies and recommend suitable ones that are in accordance with the current times in order to manage human-elephant conflict mitigation successfully.”

Myo Min, director of the ministry’s forestry department, told The Irrawaddy that the workshop came up with seven main recommendations including conducting surveys on human-elephant conflicts and elephant occupancy across the country, drawing standard land use maps, and forming elephant emergency response units in areas where there are frequent incidents.

It is necessary to implement effective control of illegal hunting and limit access to forests in order to reduce conflicts, said Khin Maung Win, chairman of Save Elephant Foundation-Myanmar. Under Burma’s wildlife and natural area protection laws, violators can face imprisonment from three to seven years. But Khin Maung Win urged wildlife laws specifically covering elephants be enacted as well.

“To control poachers, there needs to be specific laws just for elephants … not covering all wild animals, because then it’s quite generic and vague when taking legal action,” Khin Maung Win told The Irrawaddy.

At the same time, it is also important that humans be aware that elephants are also afraid of them, and won’t come to villages without reason, he explained.

“Humans can scare elephants and conflict can happen when elephants try to protect themselves or their companies and babies,” he said. “But it’s natural that people don’t like elephants eating their paddy fields.”

“That’s why we need to educate people who live close to elephant habitats and train them on how to manage such incidents,” he added.

For Dr. Myo Min Aung, the case of Mi Kaunt Ya was a life lesson. He confessed that he did not have experience in dealing with wild elephant calves and could not give her the veterinary care required to save her life.

“I wish an incident like this doesn’t happen again or, that I am able to give proper care if it does happen again in future,” he said.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: A_FactivaNatural Resources
Tin Htet Paing

Tin Htet Paing

...

Similar Picks:

Plundering Paradise: China’s Role in Myanmar’s Environmental Crisis
Guest Column

Plundering Paradise: China’s Role in Myanmar’s Environmental Crisis

by Vaishali Basu Sharma
January 24, 2025
1.7k

China’s aggressive resource extraction in Myanmar is leaving a trail of environmental destruction and debt dependency in its wake, warns...

Read moreDetails
Inspiring Women of Burma  
Burma

Inspiring Women of Burma  

by The Irrawaddy
March 18, 2016
33.5k

The contributions of some of Burma’s leading female figures are highlighted in the final part of a series that ran...

Read moreDetails
Australian-Karen Actress: ‘I Hope Karen People Will Have the Right to Self-Determination’
Asia

Australian-Karen Actress: ‘I Hope Karen People Will Have the Right to Self-Determination’

by Saw Yan Naing
January 18, 2016
13.7k

Tasneem Roc, an Australian actress who also has ethnic Karen roots, speaks with The Irrawaddy about her career and her...

Read moreDetails
Burma’s Media Landscape Through the Years
Burma

Burma’s Media Landscape Through the Years

by The Irrawaddy
May 4, 2016
13.5k

In the wake of World Press Freedom Day, celebrated on Tuesday, The Irrawaddy revisits a history of Burmese media stretching...

Read moreDetails
Burmese Director Explores Same-Sex Relationships in New Film
Burma

Burmese Director Explores Same-Sex Relationships in New Film

by Yu Mon Kyaw
January 28, 2016
8.2k

Entitled ‘Gemini,’ Nyo Min Lwin’s film about romance between two men explores ground seldom trod in Burma’s movie industry.

Read moreDetails
Lucky Numbers in the Quest for Peace
Commentary

Lucky Numbers in the Quest for Peace

by Nyein Nyein
September 10, 2015
8.7k

Burmese generals’ edicts have often been intimately tied to numerology and astrology. Is the peace process similarly tied to superstitious...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Traders Call on Govt to Support Jade Market

Traders Call on Govt to Support Jade Market

Nationalist Provocateur Let Free in Defamation Case

Nationalist Provocateur Let Free in Defamation Case

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Will Myanmar’s Military Replace Its Embattled Leader?

Will Myanmar’s Military Replace Its Embattled Leader?

1 week ago
2.5k
How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

3 days ago
980

Most Read

  • Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

    Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Sagaing Region Braced for Myanmar Junta Airstrikes After Jet Crash

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Is TNLA, Under Chinese Pressure, Conceding Northern Shan Gateway to the Regime?

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Advances into Karenni State

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.