June 6, 2006 — About 100 Thai animal rights activists on Tuesday blocked the transportation of eight endangered Asian elephants that were scheduled to leave for Australia after months of legal battling.

"I haven't slept a wink, but I'm not giving up," said activist Soraida Salwala in Kanchanaburi, northwest of Bangkok, where the elephants have been held up by protesters in cars or forming a human chain since late Monday.

"They should stay here. They are endangered animals. Also, elephants are Thailand's national symbol," said Soraida, founder of the Friends of the Asian Elephant in the province, 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of the capital.

Sydney's Taronga Zoo and Melbourne Zoo bought the elephants as part of a breeding program for endangered species.

The elephants, each placed in a cage on big trucks, were supposed to arrive at Bangkok's international airport late Monday and then fly on a special cargo to Australia.

But they remained confined on the trucks Tuesday afternoon with some 100 Thai animal rights activists and their supporters demanding that Australian zoo officials at least release the elephants from their cages.

"They are not allowing the elephants to get out. I'm really worried about their health because they look tired," said Surapong Duangkhae, head of Wildlife Fund Thailand.

"Australians are not talking to us at all," he said, adding that the elephant-carrying trucks were now parked inside the Kanchanaburi campus of Mahidol University, which has a veterinary department.

Protesters formed a human chain around the trucks, while some local supporters brought their cars to block the elephant convoy, Surapong said. Many were also bringing sleeping bags and cooking tools to prepare for a long night.

Guy Cooper, the head of the consortium of Australian zoos, argued Thai protesters were agitating the elephants by flashing lights in the animals' eyes and using camera flashes on them.

"The irresponsible actions of a small group of protesters have compromised the project," Cooper said in a statement from Thailand.

"Our Taronga and Melbourne zoos' staff have been incredibly dedicated in their care for the elephants during the protest, never leaving them and constantly providing reassurance," he said.

Australia approved the elephants' importation in July, but their arrival was postponed due to a legal case lodged by animal rights activists who argued the elephants were better off in Thai camps than living in Australian zoos.

But in February, an Australian tribunal approved the importation of the eight elephants on condition that the host zoos meet a list of conditions, paving the way for the animals' journey to Australia.

The conditions included providing appropriate flooring and installing closed-circuit television.

The eight elephants, which worked in logging camps, have been held in quarantine in Thailand for nearly two years. They were about three years old and mostly female.

Fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild and habitat loss and poaching threaten the existence of the species, particularly in Southeast Asia.