Breeding Friendly Asian Elephants In Ayutthaya

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BREEDING FRIENDLY ASIAN ELEPHANTS: CAN PERSONALITY SAVE THE SPECIES?

posted by Jocelyn Ford on Thursday, January 31. 2008

It never crossed my mind that the fate of the Asian elephant could depend in part on its personality, and that, just like other domesticated animals, elephants could be bred for character.

According to Laithonglian Meepan, Thailand's, and perhaps the world's most successful elephant breeder, if the species is to survive, elephants need to get along with people. They need to have a role in a modern-day economy.

If you want to see how that could work, go take part in his "elephant home stay" program. You can spend a few days learning to ride and developing a relationship with one of the six retired elephants, known around the ranch as the "old girls."

Here's the poop: if you really want to get to know an elephant, you'd better be ready to feed and clean up after it, and that's a big-time job. We're talking several hundred pounds of food a day, and only half of it gets digested. You do the math.

Meepan's strategy goes like this: there's little hope for wild elephants in Thailand. They are dying faster than they are reproducing. There are only about 1,500 left, and there's not enough jungle remaining to support a thriving population. WWF says the total population of Asian elephants is between 25,600 and 32,750 in the wild with an additional 15,000 in captivity. Thailand has about 2,500 domesticated elephants, but it's notoriously difficult to breed them in captivity.

In comes Meepan's ranch. He has 90 resident elephants, and has had remarkable success-- 33 surviving calves-- since he started breeding seven years ago. He also claims to be the first to breed for character. He's mating only the gentle animals, the ones who get along well with people.

The secret to the baby boom, says Michelle Reedy, an ex-Australian zookeeper Meepan invited to launch the retired elephant program, is to have "happy, healthy elephants."

But she says the modern-day economics of breeding are also a big problem for the species' survival. Thais have been domesticating elephants for 4,000 years. The animals used to be trained for battle. Then they were used for logging. Thailand banned logging about 20 years ago, so nowadays, they depend on tourists or the largesse of wealthy patrons.

Many elephant owners who need to earn a living from their animals can't afford to breed them because, ideally, mothers should stay with their young for two years. At $430 a month for food alone, that adds up to an extremely costly maternity leave in a country where elephant caretakers only earn a salary of $170 a month.

Meepan's goal is to have the younger elephants support the moms and retirees by giving rides to tourists and doing film and show performances. As of today, he still supports the project with about $200,000 a year from his other successful businesses.

Maybe Hollywood celebs would like to back an "adopt an elephant" program, at around $700 a month? (As a bonus, Michelle says the mahout elephant caretakers could teach them how to shoot an arrow while standing on the back of a charging elephant!

If you get a chance to visit the ranch located on the outskirts of the popular tourist destination, the historic capitol of Ayutthaya an hour's drive from Bangkok, try to grab a few moments with Meepan.

He's one of those rare people who, against odds, seek to make their vision come true. In his case, it's a vision of saving an endangered species, and giving elephants a better life. He may not explain it that way, though. To him, his elephants are simply like family.

Source: ScienceFriday.com