As fighting rages in the jungles around Mandalay, Burma’s second largest city, between the ruling military junta and communist rebels, the latter have reportedly captured nearly 140 elephants since July.
1 min
They arrive regularly, in twos or threes, at the camps run by the People’s Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of Burmaopposed to the ruling junta. Some elephants are left there by their owners who are fleeing the military regime and can no longer take care of them. Others have been captured as trophies in the territories won by the armed group.
There are now 138 pachyderms who have been taken in by the People’s Liberation Army, who explain that this is to prevent them from falling into the hands of traffickers, with whom a tragic end would await them.
The elephant is a very important animal in Burmese culture. A symbol of power and good fortune, it is also very interesting for the timber industry. Today, there are still hundreds of them used to transport huge tree trunks through the jungle.
But above all, the elephant is a real ” national treasure “, assures the People’s Liberation Army, which declared that it planned to return these animals to the services managing the forests if they one day manage to dislodge the junta in power since 2021.
Also readBurma: Insurrection gains ground against the military junta