Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report - IUCN

1986, Dobias 1992a, Salter 1989b), but this has nearly or
entirely ceased as awareness is now high that it is outlawed
(KK). The national captive population was estimated at 1300
animals in 1988 (Venevongphet 1988) and 135 were found
to live in one district alone of Xaignabouli Province in 1997
(Boonratana 1997). Elephants have had strong national cultural
significance for centuries. A small ivory carving industry
in Lao PDR supplies amulets, rings and other small carved
objects to major urban areas (Martin 1992, Salter 1993a).
Minority tribes in Salavan and Attapu Provinces wear large
ivory discs in their ear-lobes (KK). Elephant skin, tusks and
other parts are used in medicine and can be purchased in
Vientiane (Martin 1992, Baird 1995b) and molar teeth are
sold as curios (Salter 1993a). Urine is collected from domestic
elephants in Ban Phathoumphone (Champasak Province)
and boiled for ingestion to treat diabetes (Baird 1995b). Lao
PDR has probably the most important national population
for conservation in Indochina (Duckworth and Hedges
1998a), with viable numbers in several areas, but elephants
are At Risk in Lao PDR in the medium term. (Plate 7)
Conservation Management and Research Proposed for Asian
Elephant:
• Formulation of a national elephant conservation action
and management plan by central government, involving
full participation of provincial / district authorities, protected
area staff and local people’s representatives. This
structured approach is under discussion already.
• Realistic prioritisation of areas, accepting that elephant
populations in some may no longer be viable. Technical,
financial and human resources are best concentrated
where long-term gains are possible.
• Focus on elephant-related issues in the management plans
and activities of key conservation areas: those with the
largest and/or most viable populations (listed above).
• Establishment of managed elephant ranges (habitat management
areas linking NBCAs and/or incorporating seasonal
habitats of all major elephant populations, including
those shared with neighbouring countries).
• Incorporation of appropriate measures to minimise elephant
depredation in agricultural and forestry development
schemes in areas of wild elephant populations.
• Establishment of a trial site for conflict-resolution concerning
crop-raiding elephants (Phou Phanang NBCA /
Sangthong District might be a suitable area).
• Development of effective anti-poaching measures (recognising
the international dimension of the problem) and
enforcement of existing legal restrictions on the sale of
ivory and other elephant products.
• Co-operation with military personnel in areas retaining
elephant populations; these groups have more disciplinary
power than do provincial government field staff.
Awareness programmes to reduce elephant poaching are
also needed among the soldiers themselves (see e.g.
Boonratana 1997).
Large Mammals
• Investigation of captive animals in Lao PDR to update
Venevongphet (1988): their number and distribution, and
when and where they were captured. Lair (1997) gave
further details of the work needed.
• Active management of small populations may be appropriate
if protection is possible and the sex ratio is highly
skewed. Sexual imbalance decreases population viability,
and may cause local extinction. Villagers in
Xaignabouli Province habitually breed captive elephants
with wild individuals and techniques could be transferred
elsewhere if necessary.
• Establishment of elephant population monitoring programmes
in key areas (e.g. the Nam Theun catchment).
• Investigation of trade in ivory and other parts, particularly
source, routes and destinations, and the possibilities
for use of substitute materials.
• Explicit legal provision for the disposal of ivory trimmed
from captive elephants.
• Surveys of areas representing gaps in recent knowledge
where there seems some positive reason to believe that a
population both large (over 20) and potentially
conservable may occur.
• Intensive surveys of annual range and movements of elephants
in areas under large land-use or infrastructural
development plans, to allow effective mitigation activities
designed to minimise elephant population declines
and agricultural-elephant conflict. Such work is particularly
important in the Nam Theun catchment, where a
suite of proposed and on-going developments are likely
to displace elephants from traditional ranges.
• In-depth training of selected Lao personnel in elephant
survey and management techniques.
• The background to these (and more minor) recommendations
is given in Duckworth and Hedges (1998a).
Tapiridae: Tapirs (0-1 species in Lao PDR; 4 worldwide)
[• Tapirus indicus Asian Tapir (= Malayan Tapir M4, M5, M7 )].
Conservation Significance: Globally Threatened - Vulnerable;
Conditionally At Risk in Lao PDR; CITES Appendix I.
Context: Cheminaud (1939) observed a dead male tapir
brought into Champasak town (= Bassac) market by local
hunters in 1902. The beast was cut up and sold for meat, of
which Cheminaud bought a piece after examining the animal
at leisure. The size, general appearance and taste of the
animal are all described and there seems no doubt of the identity.
He also claimed twice to have found signs of the animal
in Lao PDR, at unspecified localities. He considered that the
species, although formerly common in the Mekong valley,
had begun to disappear from Lao PDR by the end of the nineteenth
century. Deuve (1961b) cited Cheminaud (1942;
untraced, but the title suggests it was a later edition of the
1939 work) as recording the species in Attapu and near Ban
199