From the BBC:
“Coronavirus: Thai elephants face
starvation as tourism collapses”
More than 1,000 elephants face
starvation in Thailand because the coronavirus crisis has slashed revenue from
tourism, conservationists say. An almost
total absence of visitors means that many caretakers are struggling to afford
food for Thailand's 4,000 captive elephants. The animals can eat up to 200kg
(440lb) of food a day. Thailand reported 127 new confirmed cases of the virus on
Monday, bringing the country's recorded total to 1,651. Lek Chailert, founder
of the Save Elephant Foundation, told the BBC: "If there is no support
forthcoming to keep them safe, these elephants, some of whom are pregnant, will
either starve to death or may be put on to the streets to beg." Alternatively,
some elephants may be sold to zoos or they may be returned to the illicit
logging business, which officially banned the use of elephants in 1989. "It's a very bleak outlook unless some
financial help is received immediately," Lek Chailert adds. It's a
challenge to keep the animals fed and healthy at the best of times but now it's
the dry season, which makes the situation even more extreme. Kerri McCrae, who manages the Kindred Spirit
Elephant Sanctuary in Mae Chaem, in northern Thailand, said the villagers who
live near her had brought approximately seven elephants back to her area
because they were not receiving any money from tourism anymore. "Feeding elephants is a priority but the
issue is that there's not enough forest left to feed them," she explains. Ms McCrae, who originally comes from Northern
Ireland and is also a co-founder of the sanctuary, has to drive up to three
hours a day to find enough grasses and corn stalks to feed the five elephants
in her care. She says local elephant caretakers are forced to do the same. The country, which normally relies on tourism
for a large portion of its economic growth, has been forced to close its
borders to all tourists and much of the country is in lockdown. Happy elephants, Kerri McCrae says, are
usually swinging their tails or flapping their ears or even giving themselves
dust baths to keep cool. But elephants get depressed when they're hungry, and
none of that happy behaviour would be on display. "The worst case scenario
is that owners will have to chose between themselves and their elephants,"
Ms McCrae says. "The people here don't have much, but they're doing what
it takes to keep the elephants alive for now."
^ These poor elephants. They are
suffering and need immediate help or they will die. I know the whole world is
going though difficult times right now, but we need to do more to help those (human
and animal alike) that need some extra assistance. ^
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52110551
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