[Myanmar] Elephant Poaching Rising In Burma: Officials

Since 2011, 18 endangered Asian elephants have died in Burma, 11 of which were killed by poachers, Burma’s Forestry Department told state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar. “They were poached … because the ivory tusks are offered for high prices at illegal markets. People in China, [Taiwan], Hong Kong and Japan believe that ivory has magic powers,†said Ye Htut, deputy director of the department’s Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division. This growing demand from East Asia was fueling a rise in elephant poaching in Burma, officials said, adding that two elephants were killed on Jan. 3 and Aug. 8 in Irrawaddy Division’s Ngapudaw Township. An estimated 3,000 wild elephants still live in Burma, the officials said.