Help Care for Rescued Animals in Cambodia

Last month we celebrated World Elephant Day! Launched in 2012, this day was created to help raise awareness about the urgent plight of elephants in both Africa and Asia. Over the last decade, we have seen elephant populations drop by over 60%. In 2012 alone, 35,000 African elephants were slaughtered and it is estimated that 100 elephants are killed each day. The increasingly sophisticated and large-scale nature of the attacks indicates that elephants are being targeted by organized crime syndicates that use the funds to fuel corruption, terrorism and extremist movements. Over the past four years, the price of ivory on the black market has tripled in countries like China and Vietnam. To meet this demand, ivory is being shipped from Africa into various ports in Asia, and Cambodia is emerging as a new transport hub.

So far in 2014, there have already been three major seizures of ivory in Cambodia. The Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT), which focuses much of its efforts on transboundary trafficking, is stepping up its activities to reverse this trend. As Cambodia’s national task force for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN), the WRRT is also cooperating with member countries to coordinate efforts and identify ivory trade networks operating throughout the region. With elephant populations plummeting, the specialized operations that the WRRT conducts are essential to dismantling the international ivory trade.

Listed as Endangered by the IUCN, there are only 40,000 Asian elephants remaining. These remarkable creatures have the largest brains of any land mammal and are considered keystone species because they play a crucial ecological role in habitat formation and seed dispersal. Elephants are also known to be self-aware and altruistic animals that can express grief, compassion and can even recognize themselves in a mirror! Wildlife Alliance has been working to protect these giant herbivores in Cambodia since 2001. At the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center (PTWRC), we care for four rescued Asian elephants including Chhouk, the Asian elephant with a prosthetic foot. Chhouk was found as baby, wandering alone in the forest with a severe snare injury. After caring for him for two weeks in the forest and gaining his trust, we transported him to PTWRC and were able to heal his wounds. Since then, Chhouk has undergone extensive rehabilitation, receiving a prosthetic foot to help him grow up healthy and strong. Chhouk's story exemplifies the threats these animals face on a daily basis.

Help Wildlife Alliance continue to protect Asian elephants by making a donation today! Your gift will provide food, water and care for these magnificent creatures.