Landmines:A New Victim

Elephants are becoming the latest victims of landmines planted along the war-torn Thai-Burma border. There has always been a great deal reported on the devastating effects landmines have on their human victims. Now light is being shed on another innocent to suffer the consequences of this most indiscriminate of weapons. The Asian elephant has suffered numerous setbacks in the last century, causing the population to dwindle to dangerously low levels. Now these creatures can add the dangers of landmines to their woes. The injuries and deaths the elephants are experiencing in and around Thailand are part of a worldwide epidemic of landmine injuries to animals that unwittingly stray into mined areas in both used and disused battlefields. No one has been able to put a figure on the number of animals killed or injured by landmines, but it is estimated that the number exceeds the human toll, which averages around 25,000 victims annually. Even discounting the damage landmines are wreaking on the elephant population of Thailand, both domesticated and wild elephants are experiencing tough times. At the turn of the century Thailand could lay claim to 300,000 elephants, 100,000 of which were domesticated. By the 1960s, these figures had dwindled to 40,000 and 11,000 respectively, and today, there are estimated to be 2,000 wild and 3,000 domesticated elephants, with an annual decrease of 2-5%. Now that Thailand has made the transition from being a predominantly agricultural society to one that is industry based, the animal that was once a source of national pride has become yet another commodity, its value lying solely in its earning potential. Thus the survival of the Asian elephant has become a purely economic issue. It is this earning potential that has placed the Thai elephant in the front line of risk. Many domesticated elephants are being used as tourist attractions, with a growing number being taken into Bangkok and other major cities to earn an income from begging, frequently resulting in serious injuries and deaths sustained in collisions with vehicles. And due to an official ban on logging in Thailand, the mahouts (owners) of an estimated 300 elephants still being employed in the logging industry are now under financial pressure to take them into mined border regions, particularly near Burma. But landmines are not the only problem inflicted on the elephants in this line of work. Maltreatment by the owners can be an everyday occurrence and a large number are force-fed amphetamines to maintain a longer and harder work effort. The long-term effects of this drug addiction are far reaching. Although physically the abuse may cease, the psychological damage sustained from long-term drug usage can often be irreparable. The elephant may become increasingly violent and difficult to handle, making a return to domestic employment a dangerous proposition. Often, because the owners are unable to generate further income from these elephants, they continue to neglect the animal, further abusing them and underfeeding them. In the end, some are sold, while others are simply left to die. As for the elephants that have the misfortune to encounter a landmine, only a small number of victims receive veterinary treatment. Similar to amphetamine-addicted elephants, they may die from their injuries or be forced to continue working, despite their obvious inability to do so. The border regions these elephants are working in are heavily littered by mines planted predominantly by the Burmese government and ethnic rebel groups. Increasing the odds of killing and maiming is the practice of planting the mines close to water sources, making what is essential for the elephants’ survival a danger in itself. It was around these border areas that a 38-year-old cow elephant named Motala was injured in August 1999. While foraging for food several kilometres inside the Burmese border, she stood on a landmine that shattered her left front foot. It then took her 20-year-old mahout, along with the assistance of four other elephants, four days to bring her out of the jungle before she could be taken by truck to an elephant hospital in Lampang, in northern Thailand, to receive treatment. The public and media interest that ensued brought to light a previously unacknowledged threat to the elephants. This elephant hospital, which is the only centre in the world that exists solely for the treatment of elephants, was not unused to the arrival of sick and injured pachyderms. Motala, however, proved to capture the imagination of the Thai people, and her subsequent treatment was followed closely by both the national and the world media. From the outset, Motala’s treatment and surgery was to be difficult, as a similar operation had never been previously attempted on an elephant.