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About Elefantasia |

ElefantAsia Organization (www.elefantasia.org) is a not for profit French-based organization chartered in 2001 for the express purpose of providing veterinary care for the remaining populations of herds of wild and domesticated elephants.
ElefantAsia supports a mobile “Sayaboury Elephant Care Unit” (SECU) providing quality medical care to wounded and sick elephants in remote areas. ElefantAsia also supports educational programmes for the mahout and Lao vets of which Laos has very few qualified large animal specialists. SECU vets have so far successfully treated several hundred ailing, exhausted or broken down animals. Foot damage from razor sharp bamboo, eye and foot damage and skin lesions and severe injuries from snapped chains are taking their toll of the dwindling population.
Elephant diseases are similar to bovine cows. As the forests disappear – sixty percent of Laos’ forests have been logged – so do the elephants, a living shrine to the Lao people, and the ancient traditional knowledge and culture of the mahout. ElefantAsia operates from Vientiane in collaboration with the Lao National Animal Health Centre (Department of Live stock, Ministry of Agriculture) and inaugurated “The Lao Elephant Care and management Programme” aiming to improve sanitary conditions for elephants, print training manuals for the mahout and livestock officers.
ElefantAsia also campaigns against cruelty and abuse of elephants and unethical exploitation of elephants. Breeding is paramount. There are few young fecund cows still remaining. Elephants cannot breed when exhausted. The capture and domestication of wild elephants has ceased.

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