Driving through one of Bangkok's main arteries in an early evening, I spotted one quite unusual participant in this busy traffic hours: an elephant equipped with a red blinking light fixed to his tail. the kind which is common for bicycles. How can this giant beast from the rain forests of Thailand survive in this big city and what is the reason for it to be there with his mahout?

Wriving through one of Bangkok's main arteries in an early evening, I spotted one quite unusual participant in this busy traffic hours: an elephant equipped with a red blinking light fixed to his tail. the kind which is common for bicycles. How can this giant beast from the rain forests of Thailand survive in this big city and what is the reason for it to be there with his mahout?

In Thailand, elephants have played an important role since the country's inception, not only in its religion and in the monarchy, but also in the institutions of the nation. They were once esteemed above all other animals and regarded as sacred. Thai mahouts have cared with great expertise for their elephants since centuries and earned international reputation as some of the best in the world. But today, only 3 000 - 4 000 specimen of these giant beasts are left in Thailand, and many of them are forced to make a living in the big cities. It is believed, that about 300 elephants with their mahouts walk the dangerous streets of Bangkok.

The story of elephants begins more than 60 million years ago, with an animal named Moeritherium. It was about the size of a tapir, had a short tail and no trunk, and did not resemble much the elephants of today. But scientists regard this amphibious animal that inhabited the north of the African continent as the predecessor of modern elephants, based on similarities in the skull, the teeth and small tusks, which grew from the lower jaw. The Moeritherium was classified into the order Proboscidea, which members increased in variety during the following several million years, but almost exclusively inhabited Africa. With the approach of the Miocene period about 26 million years ago, the Proboscideans migrated all over the world and increased further in diversity. There were hundreds of species with different appearance, even some, which had two pairs of tusks, growing from both the upper and lower jaws.

But the beginning of the Holocene period only 10 000 years ago, saw only two species remaining: the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Besides the obvious difference in size, there are some more characteristics that distinguish them; most are anatomical: the larger ears of the African elephant and the bulged forehead of the Asian species. While both, females and males of the African species have long tusks, among Asian elephants, only the males have tusks. In the area of general temperament and intelligence, Asian elephants are more clever, with a good memory, and can be trained to work easily. The African species is difficult to domesticate. African elephants prefer the extreme heat of the open savanna, while Asian elephants like to live in the thick forest, where the weather is cool and humid and grass and water are abundant.

It is believed that elephants were first domesticated in India and used for working and as a means of transport about 5 000 years ago. They were later trained for battle, often constituting the main force of an army, and their role was of paramount importance in the Kingdoms of Southeast Asia. A Thai king of the late 17th century had 20 000 war elephants, they were the main form of transport to and from the battlefield and they served the same purpose as a cavalry horse in the west. The number of manned elephants for warfare often determined the ultimate winner of a war. This characteristic of war was most renowned in the 300-year-war between Burma and Thailand which resulted in the destruction of Ayutthaya by Burmese forces in 1767.

For over 5 000 years, elephants have serviced man and roamed freely and in large numbers throughout Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. At the start of the 20th century, the numbers of the Asian species was estimated to still be in the millions, and over 100 000 of them graced the Thai countryside. At this time, elephants could be found in almost every province in Thailand. For the Thai people, elephants have always been a symbol of both, power and peace. But they were also worshipped as sacred animals according to beliefs transferred from India. Spiritual Buddhist texts say that elephants are powerful, intelligent and patient, have a good memory and are friendly with people. Thai people believe that elephants are Godly animals and by their tradition, they were encouraged to treat elephants humbly and gently, as if they were relatives of noble families. And they have always been well-loved.

But by now, the forests of Thailand have been depleted and the cover area has decreased due to deforestation and plantations of rubber, eucalyptus, and oil palm. There is less space and less food available for wild elephants in the forests, and due to the 1989 logging ban there is no longer much logging work to be done for the domesticated elephants. Logging was their main occupation for decades. Mahouts need to find other sources of income in order to feed and take care of their elephants. Some bring them to big cities like Bangkok and try to make money by begging on tourist crowded streets, others move further South to the tourist centers to make a living there. Tourism seems to be the answer to the future of the domesticated elephants in Thailand, but it needs to be controlled strictly. Most of the baby elephants working in up-market hotels were believed to have been poached from the forests.

But this situation has been improved in recent years, as most forests, which are home to wild elephants, are now well protected and many programs have been set up in order to ensure the survival of the wild elephants. But these areas are just small isolated pieces of land scattered around the country and surrounded by agricultural land or towns and can no longer bear the population of elephants at a sufficient level to maintain their species. Elephants in each forest are caught on "green islands" that prevent exchange of individuals and are a major obstruction to natural breeding. Thus, inbreeding among close relatives is inevitable and leads to an inferior population, prone to genetic diseases, and leading, ultimately, to extinction.

There are 3 elephant camps on Lanta Island with a total of 12 elephants, offering trekking tours to caves, waterfalls and through the rain forests of the island. These elephants have been born in captivity in the northern provinces of Thailand and have been trained for logging. They spend most of the day eating, consuming 150-200 kg of fodder daily. As their favorite food, bamboo shoots and grass, is difficult to find on Lanta. Thus, they live on a diet consisting of pineapple shoots, banana trunks and sugarcane, all to be bought on the mainland and transported to the island.

While the number of African elephants has grown and is estimated at approximately 500 000, the Asian species has fallen to an alarming low figure of only 30 000, with 3 000 - 4 000 elephants in Thailand. Around half of this number are domesticated. They are now officially classified as an endangered speciesm, with a high risk of extinction, by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and they are also listed in Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This strictly prohibits any trade in elephants or elephant parts among member countries and reflects the fact that Thai elephants are at grave risk of extinction. The situation of Thai elephants today should concern all of us very much. Statistics showing decreasing numbers of elephants lead scientists to believe that, barring a resolution to this problem, within 50 years Thai elephants will exist only in history books.