• Burmese
Sunday, July 13, 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

Paw Lan Gyi Elephants Camp

Kaung Myat Min by Kaung Myat Min
January 8, 2017
in Burma
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
One of three elephant camps in Bago’s Pyay District is Paw Lan Gyi, where tamed elephants are kept in the wild. / Kaung Myat Min / The Irrawaddy

One of three elephant camps in Bago’s Pyay District is Paw Lan Gyi, where tamed elephants are kept in the wild. / Kaung Myat Min / The Irrawaddy

16.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

PYAY — One of three elephant camps in Bago’s Pyay District is Paw Lan Gyi, where tamed elephants are kept in the wild.

Located in Taung Nawin Forest in Pauk Kaung Township, the camp used to be an active logging site until 2012 when the government decided to reduce timber production in order to conserve the Bago mountain range.

In Burma, state-owned Myanmar Timber Enterprise—which is overseen by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation—has a monopoly on the formal timber sector, but subcontracts are given to numerous companies. Illegal logging thrives as well in northeastern Burma.

RelatedPosts

Endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin That Strayed Into Thai River Found Dead

Endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin That Strayed Into Thai River Found Dead

January 29, 2025
905
Thai Zoo’s Endangered Pygmy Hippo Goes Viral

Thai Zoo’s Endangered Pygmy Hippo Goes Viral

September 17, 2024
429
An excavator digs near Mandalay Palace Wall as part of the junta’s recreation park project. / CJ

Myanmar Junta Criticized Over Mandalay Palace Park Plan

October 13, 2021
6.4k

In April 2014, Burma banned the export of raw timber logs in order to slow deforestation and boost its own domestic production. In April 2016, the new National League for Democracy (NLD) government decided to ban all logging operations and in July it declared a 10-year hiatus on timber extraction in the Bago mountain range.

These decisions have made workers and elephants engaged in timber extraction redundant.

The Myanmar Timber Enterprise has since turned several logging camps into elephant camps or ecotourism sites in order to help sustain the livelihoods of logging workers and retired elephants.

One such site is Paw Lan Gyi, located in the mountains about 50 miles away from Pyay.

The camp is a small village with 37 households, most of them Myanmar Timber Enterprise staff including mahouts, their assistants and their families.

The camp currently keeps 12 elephants in the wild, one male and 11 females, aged between 34 and 75.

It was opened to visitors in 2013 but it is not a permanent camp and visitors have to seek approval before going to the area. The camp draws only foreign visitors, and only once a year. On Dec. 28 last year, more than 20 foreign visitors visited the camp, arranged by Belmond Orcaella Myanmar, a river cruise service provider.

At Paw Lan Gyi, elephants are kept in the wild. Staff members search for them in the morning, bathe them, check their health and release them back into the forest. This is the day-to-day ritual for humans and elephants at the camp.

In December, Nat Hmaw logging site was opened as an elephant camp on the bank of the Irrawaddy River, just five miles from Pyay. It has become popular among local visitors in a short time. The third elephant camp in the area is still undergoing construction.

Earlier this week, Sri Ksetra, one of three Pyu cities on the UNESCO World Heritage List, started providing elephant trekking using retired elephants from the Myanmar Timber Enterprise.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Conservation
Kaung Myat Min

Kaung Myat Min

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin That Strayed Into Thai River Found Dead
Burma

Endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin That Strayed Into Thai River Found Dead

by Naung Naung
January 29, 2025
905

Hopes for survival of one of country’s last remaining freshwater dolphins were shattered with the discovery of its body in...

Read moreDetails
Thai Zoo’s Endangered Pygmy Hippo Goes Viral
Asia

Thai Zoo’s Endangered Pygmy Hippo Goes Viral

by AFP
September 17, 2024
429

Moo Deng’s caretakers said short-form video platforms have turbocharged the endangered species’ fame and hope they will be a boon...

Read moreDetails
An excavator digs near Mandalay Palace Wall as part of the junta’s recreation park project. / CJ
Burma

Myanmar Junta Criticized Over Mandalay Palace Park Plan

by The Irrawaddy
October 13, 2021
6.4k

Conservationists have attacked the regime’s scheme to build a public recreation area alongside Mandalay’s most famous cultural site.

Read moreDetails
A tiger is caught on a camera trap in Sagaing Region’s Tamanthi Wildlife Reserve. / WCS-Myanmar
Burma

Cub Sightings Raise Hopes for Myanmar’s Tiger Population

by Lei Lei
July 31, 2019
7.8k

Three young animals have been photographed in a Sagaing Region wildlife reserve over the past five years, conservation group says.

Read moreDetails
The temples of Bagan are seen in February 2016. / The Irrawaddy
Burma

Bagan Makes UNESCO List, but Challenges Remain

by Zarni Mann
July 8, 2019
11.4k

After decades of failed attempts, stakeholders are overjoyed. But new hotels and management transparency issues mean challenges still lie ahead.

Read moreDetails
Ancient temples are seen with an active construction site in the background on the compound of the Hilton Bagan Hotel. / The Irrawaddy
Features

Despite World Heritage Status, Bagan’s Future Far From Assured

by Kyaw Phyo Tha
August 2, 2019
9.9k

With no quick fix in sight for intrusive hotels and tourism-related accommodations, the legacy of years of mismanagement continues to...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Kavi Chongkittavorn is a columnist with ‘The Nation' newspaper, and senior fellow at the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.

Asean at 50, and Beyond

US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski (left) in July 2016. / Reuters

US Human Rights Official Finds ‘Disturbing Pattern’ in Arakan Security Operations

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

3 days ago
1.1k
Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

4 days ago
1.1k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Chief Thanks Trump for Shutting Down VOA and RFA

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Airstrikes Kill 25 on Friday

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Parading Comedians and Machines for Election Circus; Rousing the Military Vote; and More

    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.