Myanmar
Myanmar has 5,000 elephants living in captivity. Over the years, Elephant Care International has helped to train elephant veterinarians, provide technical support, and develop welfare guidelines for Myanmar’s emerging elephant tourism industry.
Unfortunately the military coup that began February of 2021 has made further work in Myanmar impossible for now. We hope the situation will change.
Bull elephants at a Myanmar Timber Elephant research camp, where we enhanced veterinary capacity.
Rural scene in Myanmar
Myanmar elephants – transitioning from logging to tourism.
Elephant Family awards partial funding for pathology workshop in Myanmar
Many thanks to Elephant Family for awarding partial funding to Elephant Care International to conduct the workshop Pathology Training for Elephant Veterinarians in Myanmar. Dr. Susan Mikota and Dr. Khyne U Mar co-managed the project and co-taught together with Dr. Dalen Agnew, a board certified veterinary pathologist from Michigan State University.
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Understanding and documenting why elephants die is critical to management, policy decisions, and conservation of living elephants. However, veterinarians in range countries often do not receive adequate pathology training. Two six-day workshops trained a total of 20 elephant veterinarians. Participants received a laminated postmortem protocol and a thumb drive containing videos of all lecture presentations, laboratory and practical demonstrations, and other references for sharing with colleagues. Elephant Pathology Backpacks containing equipment, instruments, and supplies for sample collection were provided to veterinarians representing the seven elephant logging regions. The workshop was scheduled for the end of 2018 or early 2019 to give us time to develop materials and raise the additional funds that we needed. This project may not sound quite as exciting as rescuing baby elephants but it is important!
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The ElephantCare ASIA Workshop took place from September 23-29, 2018 at Green Hill Valley in Myanmar.
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Working with a global team of elephant experts, this 7-day workshop blended high quality veterinary care knowledge and skill-building with positive reinforcement training to ensure the health and well being of captive elephants living throughout Asia.
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Read the final report
Long-term colleague Dr. Khyne U Mar (R). Recommendations from our team have improved the husbandry and care of the white elephants in Yangon.
Elephant Care International collaborated with the Myanmar Timber Elephant Research Program (http://myanmar-timber-elephant.group.shef.ac.uk/) since 2012. The program, currently based at the University of Turku in Finland, is a long-term study to address diverse topics ranging from demography, social behavior, aging, welfare and conservation, to veterinary health issues.
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ECI’s role was focused on building the capacity of Myanmar’s elephant veterinarians through workshops and one-on-one training. The first workshop “Professional Strategies to Improve Asian Elephant Management in Myanmar” was held in November 2012. During this field visit Dr. Mikota helped set up a small laboratory at one of the remote elephant camps and donated a freezer to store serum.
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In 2014 we conducted health assessments of white elephants in Yangon, zoo elephants in Nay Pyi Taw, and government-owned elephants residing at several logging camps.
We also began a TB Surveillance Program, testing 86 elephants at 3 different sites. Dr. Mikota gave presentations on tuberculosis at the Rufford Grantees Conference and Elephant Symposium and Dagon University and at Nay Pyi Taw Zoo she presented information on foot care to the staff.
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As an instructor in the “Capacity Building for Zoo and MTE Veterinarians” Workshop held at the Nay Pyi Taw Zoological Gardens during March 2015, Dr. Mikota gave four presentations focused on topics to enhance the ability of zoo and elephant veterinarians to better understand clinical pathology and its application to the diagnosis and treatment of medical problems. She also led a laboratory session on urinalysis. Her other scheduled lab sessions were kindly led by Dr. Tint Naing after Dr. Mikota fell ill with the flu! Working internationally does have its hazards.
Dr. Htoo Htoo Aung (l) and Dr. Susan Mikota (r) preparing samples for evaluation sedimentation rates (ESR).
Following the Nay Pyi Taw Zoo Workshop, our team traveled to Katha to Kywe Craw Camp. This is a nursing/mother camp where we are helping Dr. Khyne U Mar to identify ways to reduce calf mortality. There were 49 elephants and eight babies. Veterinarians collected blood for TB testing and serum banking and two elephants were treated for nutritional deficiencies.
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Dr. Mikota returned to Myanmar in October 2015 for an additional 14 weeks of field work. This trip began with Dr. Mikota presenting at the Asian Society of Conservation Medicine meeting in Yangon. Visits were made to the Nat Pauk tourist camp to continue TB surveillance and to the nursing camp to check mothers and babies (always a delight!).
Dr. Htoo Htoo Aung reading the ESR tubes.
A highlight of the trip was the opportunity to spend several weeks traveling with Dr. Win Htut and his mobile clinic, giving the two seasoned veterinarians ample time to exchange ideas.
Dr. Mikota also participated in a Positive Reinforcement Training Workshop aimed at teaching oozies (mahouts) more gentle methods.
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Please support future our work in Myanmar. Donate here!
Dr. Susan Mikota and Dr. Win Htut at one of the logging elephant health camps.