Cruel trade in Asian elephants threatens survival - report

Wild elephants are being held in horrific conditions in Myanmar by smugglers looking to resume a lucrative trade, a report says, according to the BBC.

It claims the animals, mainly calves, are being brutally treated as they are "tamed" for tourist camps in Thailand.

Campaigners Traffic fear a resurgence in smuggling could seriously threaten the elephant's survival in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

They are calling on the Thai government to urgently tighten trafficking laws.

The study compiled by the wildlife monitoring network says that up to 81 live elephants were illegally captured for sale into the Thai tourist industry between 2011 and 2013.

The animals are mainly used to entertain foreign and domestic tourists at trekking camps.

As visitors prefer younger elephants, the value of calves has soared. The current market value is around $33,000 (£19,000) for a healthy specimen.

A clampdown by the Thai authorities in 2012 has succeeded in curbing much of the live trade from Myanmar.

However, according to Traffic, wild elephants continue to be trapped as smugglers believe the crackdown will end.

"We have information that dealers on the Myanmar side of the border are holding elephants, waiting for enforcement vigilance to be relaxed," said Dr Chris Shepherd from Traffic.

"Wildlife in Myanmar is being completely hammered, by habitat loss but also by the trade. Borders are extremely porous, wildlife is being taken across all the time."

The methods used to capture and train the elephants are particularly cruel.

Domesticated animals are used to herd wild ones into pit traps, where the older members are often shot. The younger elephants are then taken to the Thai-Myanmar border area where they are "broken in."

"They are put in small log boxes and just beaten into submission," said Dr Shepherd.

"They are a bit like a light switch - you take a wild elephant and beat it long enough and suddenly the switch goes off and you have a tame elephant.

"The welfare implications are horrendous - it is a cruel business."