Elephant care manual for mahouts and camp managers 1 The designations and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its frontiers or boundaries. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors alone and do not imply any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO. C FAO and FIO, 2005 ISBN: 974-7946-71-8 Edited by Richard C. Lair Drawings by Sirikorn Inkom Printed by XX For copies write to: Forest Resources Officer FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Maliwan Mansion Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 10200 Thailand E-mail:
[email protected] 2 Elephant care manual for mahouts and camp managers Preecha Phangkum Richard C. Lair Taweepoke Angkawanith FOREST INDUSTRY ORGANIZATION MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANISATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL OFFICE FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Bangkok, 2005 3 Foreword The number of wild elephants in Thailand has declined steadily over the last three decades, mostly because of relentless habitat destruction, and experts estimate that at present only about 1,500 wild elephants remain. Today, better management by state agencies and increased public awareness are helping the wild elephant population to stabilize. In the middle of the nineteenth century, Thailand had as many as 100,000 domesticated elephants. The number of domesticated elephants started to decline about fifty years ago, as rapidly improving roads eroded the use of elephants in transportation — the most common work in the old days.