There are almost 5,000 elephants owned by Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE) and private individuals and the poaching of more elephants has been banned, the minister for natural resources and environmental conservation told the Lower House on Wednesday.
Minister Ohn Win’s response came after MP Khin Cho for Hlinebwe in Kayin State asked about a government plan to conserve wild elephants and to systematically house the existing elephants owned by the government as logging had stopped.
The minister said, according to the official figures, MTE and individuals owned 4,748 elephants. Wild elephants were on the protected wildlife list under the 1994 law for the protection of wildlife, plants and habitats.
“Tamed elephants trained for carrying logs are cost-effective in timber extraction. They also have the least impact on the environment. Now we have banned poaching further wild elephants for timber extraction,” said the minister.
Wild elephants usually roam in Bago, Yangon, Ayeyawady and Taninthayi regions and Rakhine and Kayin states.