The threat
Like so many other South East Asian countries, Cambodia is suffering from a fast and uncontrolled development that is obliterating the formidable bio-diversity of a whole country.
Hundred of thousand of hectares were and are still savagely bulldozed, to such an extend that soon none of the emblematic animals of Cambodia will be left in the wild !
The tiger has already disappeared and the elephant is taking the same path.
Elephants, a species in great danger !
Everybody is well aware of the fast disappearance of this majestic species, yet one does usually not realise to what extend this Asian Elephant is even more threatened than his African cousin !
Per comparison, there are now 400 000 elephants left on the African continent (against 1,4 million in 1970) while in the same period the Asian population has shrunk from 200 000 to only 30 000 animals.
History & forgotten traditions
Long gone are the auspicious times of the Angkorian period when King Suryavarman II (1113-1150) owned more than 200 000 war and work elephant, Cambodia is now the Asian country with the smallest number of elephants. There are just about 70 domesticated elephants and 200- 250 wild elephants.
Yet, without elephants the Khmer Empire would never have become the most powerful and feared empire in the area !
For centuries the biggest land animal has pulled and hauled the blocks of sandstone necessary to the construction of the Angkor temples which would never have been built without him !
The battles that were fought in between the Khmer and their Cham or Siamese enemies would have been more difficult to win without the help of the world’s first tanks !
Art, iconography, sculpture, handicraft, wood work, Cambodian literature… All give prominence to the elephant.
The pachyderm’s image abounds on the walls of Angkor, it is depicted everywhere in modern Cambodia, on public places, in pagodas, gardens…
However the last wild specimens are mercilessly hunted and killed, their habitat is destroyed at an incredible pace; even domesticated animals often lead a miserable life, a consequence of their owners’ own distress. They live apart from one another, without being able to socialize and work in disastrous conditions, walking on tarmac, eating leftovers from agriculture et developing terrible deficiencies.
A few figures (Number of animals) |
