Elephants birthday party in Thailand

Elephants have a long association with Thailand and for many years were the backbone of the country's forestry industry. From an estimated 200,000 plus, the number of wild and domesticated elephants in Thailand has dwindled to an estimated 2,500 today.

In 1963 the white elephant became the kingdoms national animal and in 1998 the government proclaimed March 13th to be Thai national elephant day.

The Mae Sa (Maesa) Elephant Camp is a big tourist drawcard for those visiting Northern Thailand generally and Chiang Mai in particular. The camp has 73 elephants in its park and runs an active breeding program. A calf was born the night before the 2008 elephant birthday celebrations. This is field edited news footage.

A story on the elephants' birthday party can be found here: http://photojourn.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/elephants-birthday-a-jumbo-celebra...

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• photo_journ
• Northern Thailand
• Chiang Mai
• Ma Sa Elephant Camp
• Thailand tourism
• Thailand elephants
• Elephants birthday
• Asian elephants
• elephants
• Thailand festivals

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It is so comforting to know, that there are stil so many caring people- caring enought to protect one of the most intelligent animals on the planet and organize such a touching celebration ! I wish laws are more severe for poachers - they should be procecuted as murderers and assassins.Wonderful video!