Thailand: Jewel of the Orient
Located in the heart of Southeast Asia, Thailand is a nation of picturesque beaches, rainforest jungles and majestic mountains. It is a land defined as much by its arresting natural beauty and spectacular wildlife as its rich history and ancient traditions. Because of its idyllic climate and amazing biodiversity, Thailand is often called the "Jewel of the Orient." It is home to more than 10,000 different flowering plants and about 10 percent of the world’s animals. Among these is the Asian elephant, a symbol of Thai royalty.

Asian Elephants
Asian elephants are found in Thailand and throughout the fragmented forests of Asia, from India in the east to Indonesia in the west. Compared to elephants in Africa, Asian elephants are smaller and their ears are pointed at the bottom, rather than fan-shaped. All elephants have several extraordinary characteristics in common. One is their trunk, a long, muscular appendage that is both an upper lip and a nose. It is made up of more muscles than are in the human body and is strong enough to uproot a tree. Another interesting feature of elephants is their tusks, which are actually an elephant's incisor teeth. Elephants are sometimes hunted and killed for their tusks, although this practice is much less common since the passage of an international ban on ivory in 1989.

Asian elephants are among the largest animals on the planet. Adult females usually weigh about 7,500 pounds while males can be as much as 12,000 pounds. They are able to thrive in a variety of habitats, from thick jungles to grassy plains. They are herbivores that eat a wide range of vegetation, including grasses, leaves, fruit and bark. They also sometimes wander onto farms and eat crops, a practice that creates conflict between elephants and humans.

Asian elephants are social animals and, although males sometimes live alone, females are always found in family groups consisting of mothers, daughters, sisters, and immature males. Elephant herds are matriarchal, which means they are led by a dominant female. Individuals in the group communicate using touch, smell, and a variety of vocal sounds. They form strong family bonds, with baby elephants staying close to their mothers for many years.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were about 200,000 Asian elephants on earth. There are now currently between 35,000 to 40,000, and only a few thousand are left in Thailand. The most important factor in the decline in Asian elephant populations is habitat loss due to the expanding human population and deforestation. Despite efforts to protect them, these animals are in danger of becoming extinct. As symbols of power and majesty, elephants are an important part of Thai culture and history. To lose these gentle giants would be to lose a part of the spirit and identity of Thailand.

Wrinkle-Lipped Bats
Sunset in Thailand signals millions of wrinkle-lipped bats to wake up and leave their caves in search of food. The mass exodus begins with the emergence of a few hundred bats and is followed moments later by thousands more. Their exit order and formation is repeated night after night in a spectacle that is both impressive and unnerving.

Bats are among the most widely distributed mammals in the world. The approximately 1,000 different known bat species are found on all continents except Antarctica, and there are more than 100 species in Thailand alone. Like other mammals, bats give birth to live young and nurse them with milk. Wrinkle-lipped bats roost – a roost is a place where animals gather and sleep – in cave colonies, some of which contain hundreds of thousands of individuals.

Wrinkle-lipped bats perform critical ecological functions. Mounds of their droppings, called guano, accumulate on cave floors and are collected and used as fertilizer for agriculture. This provides locals with a source of income and gives them incentive to protect the caves and forests and the bat populations that depend on them. Wrinkle-lipped bats also consume millions of insects each night. Without these animals, insect populations would soar out of control and disrupt the delicate balance of the forest ecosystem in Thailand.

The populations of wrinkle-lipped bats have declined in recent decades, mainly due to deforestation, toxins in their environment and limestone mining operations in the caves where they roost. Bats are slow to reproduce and females typically give birth to only one offspring each year. Preserving habitat and maintaining a healthy environment are critical to the survival of wrinkle-lipped bats in Thailand.

Gibbons
Gibbons are small apes that live in the forests of Southeast Asia. They can be seen in the tree canopies of Thailand’s lowland rain forest, swinging deftly from branch to branch. Gibbons are known for their loud singing duets. The male begins the duet with low somber notes and the female joins in with an intensely emotional high-pitched cry. These songs serve to reinforce monogamous pair bonds and to maintain established territories.

Gibbons were once abundant in Thailand but are now facing extinction due to loss of their rainforest habitat and poaching, which is the illegal hunting of animals. Baby gibbons are often taken from their mothers and sold in the exotic pet trade or to private zoos. Gibbons are seriously endangered and without strictly enforced antipoaching  measures and habitat protection efforts, these animals face a grim future.

Conservation in Thailand
With rapidly expanding human populations and forests disappearing at an alarming rate, the future of elephants and other wild animals in Thailand is in jeopardy. Because elephants are an umbrella species with a large home range, preserving their habitat would protect the biodiversity of the entire region.

Get Involved!
Find out how you can help save the elephants of Thailand. Want to help in the River Wall Project, which works to keep rescued elephants safe from flooding and erosion? Elephant Nature Park is more than halfway to its goal! Visit the Elephant Nature Park to learn more now.