just pulled an interesting article out of one of the Sydney Weekend magazines. its about the status of both Thailand's wild and working elephants. whilst the debate surrounding zoo elephants continues with little sign of slwoing down clearly the clock is ticking for the thai elephants, and whilst everyone could appreciate that the wild is the best place for an elephants, im having a hard time accepting that working elephants are bette roff in thai work camps than they are in zoos (in terms of a black and white argument, i just dont think sweeping statements that elephants are best off in the wild or in thailand and not in zoos are correct). as allegations about elephants being drugged, abused and rampant cruelty towards the elephants come to light i think it makes the future of the elephant look that bit more bleak.
latest estimates from thailand are 2000 wild and 2000 captive with the captive stock in some areas declining rapidly.