Changes in Elephant Ownership and Employment in the Lao PDR: Implications for the Elephant-Based Logging and Tourism Industries

Abstract

Communities in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) have been utilizing captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) for centuries. The elephant handler (mahout) profession has remained fundamentally unchanged. Captive elephants, however, are no longer necessary in roles where they were once considered vital, particularly the logging industry. To gauge mahout demographics and assess problems associated with elephant industries, we surveyed 133 mahouts in the Lao PDR. We found that mahoutship is an aging industry with a vanishing family association. Contrasts between logging and tourism mahouts were apparent when observing family tradition, finances, and industry-related experiences. Logging mahouts rely on tourism to provide them with future employment; however, tourism cannot currently employ elephants on a scale similar to that of logging operations. The need for the traditional mahout and a large population of captive elephants may have reached its finality in Laos.

Investigating changes within the handling system of the largest semi-captive population of Asian elephants

“…Social change has been found to disrupt the mahout profession over recent decades in parts of Asia, with reduced employment opportunities, salaries unable to compete with growing industries [27], and lessened cultural appreciation observed in India, Nepal, Laos and Thailand [28–30]. There have been many valuable studies of elephant care in these countries, but these were often small scale (<30 elephants; [20,26,28,31]) or focused on specific aspects of the job (e.g.…”

Wild-captive interactions and economics drive dynamics of Asian elephants in Laos

“…1 ). From 1990 to 2012, the increasing scarcity of elephants was accompanied by a rapid increase in sale prices exceeding 20,000 constant USD 27 . This result illustrates that the relationship between quantity and price is consistent with economic theory.…”

“…Laos has a centuries-long tradition of raising Asian elephants 23 . Most captive elephants live in remote areas and are used to extract logs in the forestry industry 27 , 33 . After their daily working hours, they are tied to trees where they can forage by themselves and are moved twice a day by their keepers.…”

“…Most of the country’s captive elephants live in Sayaboury province (Fig. 4 ), which also hosts the Nam Pouy National Park (Lat: 18°12′–18°58′N, Long: 101° 04′–101°32′E) – home of the second largest wild population in the country 23 , 27 , 34 .

Figure 4 Map of captive and wild elephant populations in Lao PDR.

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“…Working incomes are estimated from IC Suter’s 2011 survey 27 among 133 elephant owners and keepers, which indicated that average income was equivalent to 4,070 constant USD (i.e., 6.11 times the constant per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP)). Economists generally use GDP per capita as an indicator of changes in household incomes 43 .…”