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A tussle over the elephants

Activists in Thailand block their transfer to Australian zoo

SAI YOK: Plans to transfer eight Asian elephants to Australian zoos got another setback on Tuesday after activists kept trucks from hauling the animals to Bangkok's airport, saying they would suffer abroad. The elephants, after being in cages on trucks for more than 20 hours, were being taken back on Tuesday afternoon to their quarters at a quarantine station, their home for over a year.

Activists blocked the trucks late on Monday, stopping them from leaving the station in western Thailand's Kanchanaburi province. The standoff lasted through the night, with about 15 villagers — some just five years old — gathered outside the gates in support of the protesters. A sign near them read "Stop Exploiting Thai Elephants." Caretakers from Australia stayed with the animals through the standoff, hosing them down and feeding them.

The decision to take them back and out of the trucks was announced by Lisa Keen, a communications manager for Sydney's Taronga Zoo, one of the institutions set to receive some of the elephants. She did not say what the plans were for the animals, which were supposed to have been flown to Australia on Monday night. "The protesters surged up through the convoy and they [the elephants] got a fright, so we decided to unload them. Based on the advice from our elephant managers, we've decided right now that the elephants have been upset. We're going to take them out to a very large quarantine centre in the back," she said.

Soraida Salwala, founder of the Thai group Friends of the Asian Elephant and leader of the blockade, said on hearing of the move that she would go home, while other protesters would stay on the scene. She said they were concerned about the elephants' welfare. They say that the animals — planned to be part of a captive breeding programme in Australia — would suffer if confined to zoos and that the programme would not help conserve the species.

The animals' return to their quarters "is just one step forward," Ms. Soraida said. "A victory would be to have a foreign policy not to export any Thai elephants... I'm still waiting." — AP

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