Thai wildlife activists block jumbo lift

Jun 6, 2006, 14:33 GMT

Kanchanaburi, Thailand - Thai wildlife activists succeeded Tuesday in indefinitely postponing the departure of eight elephants for Australian zoos, claiming the zoos were stealing Thailand's national symbol.

About 100 wildlife activists, mostly women and children, formed a human blockade in front of the eight trucks that were to transport the elephants to Bangkok International Airport Monday night to catch a charter flight to Sydney.

To prevent the delivery the protestors slept in the road Monday night through Tuesday morning.

'We didn't get much sleep,' said Soraida Salwala, secretary-general of the Asian Elephant Foundation.

After refusing to lift their blockade Tuesday, Thai authorities decided Tuesday to unload their pachyderm cargo and return them to the the Mahidol University's wildlife hospital in Kanchanaburi province.

Five of the pachyderms were to destined for Sydney's Taronga Zoo while three others were bound for the Melbourne Zoo.

Australian Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell reportedly appealed to his Thai counterpart, Yongyudh Tiyapairat, to intervene in unblocking the elephant delivery.

'The Australian ambassador has given a message to my Thai counterpart asking him to step in and get the authorities there to allow the elephants to leave,' Senator Campbell told the Australian Associated Press (AAP.) 'We are waiting for a response.'

The elephant delivery was intended to be part of an animal swap deal between Thailand and Australia under which Thailand would receive koalas, kangaroos and other marsupials in exchange for Thai pachyderms.

'We're opposed to sending the elephants to Australia because Taronga Zoo has said they want to establish the largest elephant breeding centre in the world,' said Soraida.

'They are stealing Thailand's nationals symbol and in the future they will be using the centre to steal tourists away from Thailand,' said the well-known elephant conservationist.

Thailand has one of the world's largest remnant pachyderm populations, with an estimated 3,000 tame elephants and 1,600 in the wild.

Kanchanaburi Conservation Group head Pinan Chotirotserenee said one of the reasons they had blocked the elephants' departure was to determine whether the eight animals were from the wild by checking their DNA.

It is illegal to export wild elephants from Thailand, although trade in domesticated elephants, deemed a draught animal under Thai law, is permissible.

As of Tuesday morning the jumbo delivery had hit an impasse, with the elephants stuck in their cages on the trucks.

Protest organizers said that hundreds of school children from Kanchanaburi were scheduled to arrive mid-day to help block the trucks from leaving the province, situated 160 kilometres west of Bangkok.