ĐẮK LẮK — NGO Animals Asia and Đắk Lắk Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development have signed a co-operation agreement for elephant conservation in Việt Nam from 2019-22.

AnimalsAsia said the agreement, which was signed on January 11, was part of the progress being made to protect endangered elephants following the first deal signed in 2016.

AnimalsAsia will provide US$60,000 to offer technical and expert assistance in elephant conservation and rescue skills for National Yok Đôn Park as well as improving awareness among communities through communication and educations programmes and wildlife protection.

Following the agreement, Animals Asia will send experts and vets to consult on the design and construction of new facilities for elephant care and management, and to improve veterinary care for elephants from the Elephant Conservation Centre’s staff.

The NGO said the fund would also help build eco-friendly activities aimed at stopping elephant rides in the park.

It said a semi-wildlife conservation centre would be built to protect elephant herds, while helping tourists to view the magnificent animals.

In 2018, AnimalsAsia also offered funding of $65,000 to stop elephant tours in the park.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Việt Nam’s four Asian elephant herds, comprising 60 or 70 elephants, have been preserved in the provincial Yok Đôn National Park.

Wild elephant population is still under threat of poaching, while their habitats are being narrowed by farming.

Director of Đắk Lắc Elephant Conservation Centre Huỳnh Trung Luân said elephants used for tourism activities had been living in poor conditions.

Luân said the 43 elephants that were still kept by households in the province were not expected to live over 40 years old, and no calves had been born in more than 10 years.

WWF-Việt Nam said it had given top priority to Asian elephant conservation in the 2016-20 period.

WWF-Việt Nam has been jointly working with the Forestry Administration of Việt Nam to build a cross-border management project of biodiversity, nature and conservation of Asian elephant and tigers between Đắk Lắk and Mondulkiri in Cambodia. — VNS