Myanmar to set up elephant sanctuary

YANGON: Myanmar Mingala Association in cooperation with Four Paws International (FPI) will set up an elephant sanctuary and several rehabilitation camps in Bago mountains in southern Myanmar, official media reported.

The forest, covering an area of 145 hectares, will provide a sanctuary for other wild animals and vegetation, said the Global New Light of Myanmar.

Once the permission is approved by the government, the sanctuary can be established in six months.

The four or five elephant rehabilitation camps will nurse sick, injured and old elephants back to health and they will then return to their native habitats.

Myanmar has over 3,000 wild elephants and about 5,000 elephants in captivity working in the forestry sector.

Four Paws International (FPI) has founded nine animal sanctuaries in nine countries including Indonesia and it has plans to establish a sanctuary in Vietnam in near future. — Xinhua