Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation: Recent Comments

Comment on ...another date for your V.C.R's (you lucky, lucky things)

Varun Sharma — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:01:39 GMT

Europe, Mid-East & Africa tonight (16th) - Travel Channel - CET 2100 hrs - Inside Luxury Travel - Thailand episode with elephants & water buffalo!

Comment on ...on why it is important to keep mahouts smiling if you want to put a smile on an elephant's face.

Teri — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:27:23 GMT

Well said, John Roberts!

Comment on ...another date for your V.C.R's (you lucky, lucky things)

Mike Thompson — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:27:32 GMT

I have found Varun Sharma's blog with some additional details, and photo's of his adventure - you might want to mention them for those who won't be able to see his show.

http://bit.ly/8vvAF7

Comment on Gimmicks & glitz (overshadowing or drawing attention to the real issues?)

Marcus Cotton — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:21:08 GMT

NEPAL

PRESS RELEASE For immediate release

Date: 21/01/10

TIGER TOPS SIGNS NEW LEASE WITH GOV’T NEPAL

Today Tiger Tops, the pioneer wildlife-safari lodge in South Asia, signed a new lease with the Department of National Parks of Nepal. After a 6 month hiatus when all seven lodges operating inside Nepal’s premier Chitwan National Park , had their operations suspended at lease expiry, Tiger Tops is now back in business. The new lease runs to July 2012 covering the important period of Nepal Tourism Year 2011. Tiger Tops welcomes the tighter environmental management clauses in the new lease. The company acknowledges the support of the Hon. Minister of Forests, Mr. Deepak Bohara, and the Secretary, Ministry of Forests, Mr. Yuba Raj Bhushal.

Founded in 1964, Tiger Tops has been a tourism icon for this Himalayan nation and was the first tourism product focussing on the wealth and diversity of Nepal ’s lowland area, the Terai. Tiger Tops pre-dates Chitwan National Park that was only established in 1973 and the company actively lobbied for the establishment of the park. Chitwan is a conservation success story for Nepal and is a world model of participatory conservation initiatives.

Tiger Tops has developed the standards for responsible conservation tourism in Nepal ’s lowland protected areas and operates to strict environmental and social guidelines. Tiger Tops has strong partnerships with leading researchers, local and international charitable and conservation organisations and works to enhance standards for responsible conservation tourism.

Tiger Tops naturalists are the only tourism staff in Nepal to pass a rigorous examination to be accorded the title Naturalist. They support and lead a range of social and environmental projects, including the International Trust for Nature Conservation’s “Long-term Tiger Monitoring Project” under the leadership of Dr. Charles McDougal PhD, which has been studying the tiger population of western Chitwan for over 25 years, yielding rich data on tiger ecology.

Tiger Tops is happy for its staff of over 300 that the company can resume its operations and display their dedication and superb standards of service to tourists from around the world. In spite of the closure for 6 months, the staff has all been retained on full pay. We thank them for their patience.

Marcus Cotton Yadav Bantawa

Chief Executive, Tiger Mountain Nepal General Manager, Tiger Tops

+977 (0)1 436 1500 +977 (0)1 436 1500

Comment on Good Luck America - Thailand's elephant beer is coming to town...

Jay Brooks — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:15:35 GMT

Beer In Art #59: Kitti Narod’s Rivers of Amber

by Jay Brooks on January 3, 2010

in Art & Beer, Beers

Today’s works of art is by a young Thai artist named Kelli Narod. He was commissioned by Chang Beer , the best-selling beer in Thailand, to paint an “interpretation” of their label. He came up with Rivers of Amber .

Here’s a description of the work:

In Bangkok artist Kitti Narod’s commissioned interpretation of the Thai favourite Chang Beer bottle and logo, an exuberant fountain of golden beer escapes the confines of its glass bottle and Narod’s painted encircling frame to flood the canvas with waves of vital refreshment. Four mystically illuminated corner elephants echo the prized white Thai elephants of the brand logo. Within the painted sphere, the forest, river, rainbow and starry sky exude energy to match the eddies of the amber torrent.

I love the look of this piece, especially having just watched the color-saturated Sita Sings the Blues . A lot of art from this region of the world uses dense, colorful designs where every square inch of the canvas is used.

Narod is appranetly a self-taught artist who “creates unique paintings of wildlife with brilliant dots of color.” According to a biography on Absolute Arts :

Kitti Narod’s acrylic dot paintings are inspired by Australian Aboriginal techniques. As a graduate artist working on collage paintings, Kitti came upon the dots on dots Australian Aboriginal art and found that this spoke to him personally as an artist. In Narod’s work, themes from nature, flowers, fruits, leaves, waves, trees, the sea and sea creatures are interwoven in colour schemes drawn from the blue of the sky and the warm palette inspired by Kitti’s tropical sun. This exceptionally versatile artist also produces dynamic Urban Abstracts, collages on a Chinese theme and, in collaboration with his “mom”, cutting edge textile compositions.

The Chang beer label, owned by ThaiBev . In Thai, the word “Chang” means elephant. Chang also has an interesting looking Thai Good Food Guide online.

You can see much more of her colorful artwork at Easy Art , the Magic Art Gallery and Thai Fine Art Online . You can purchase prints of his work at several online shops, including the X-Ray Mag Store or Easy Art .

Comment on Miniature elephant or mammoth scam?

Kathie Shadow Watcher — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 07:21:54 GMT

Have you ever heard of the tiny little Thai Water Elephant? A Cryptozoological dream!
If you read my blog every now and again, you know I am always interested in a good crypto mystery. A while back I was chatting with my children during a visit and the subject of the Thai Water Elephant came up. I had never heard of such a thing, which prompted a research trip to our wonderfully large library where I sifted through and poured over stacks of zoological and scientific journals. I also searched the web and even going through ever nick and cranny of it, my searches proved none to fruitful. Apparently, these little fellows, and I do mean "little", no more than 2 inches tall, are very rare and not much is known about them.
So, here is the product of my searching. Everything that I can tell you about the elusive Thai Water Elephant! Unfortunately, I am unable to post a photograph for you since there are none available. Some mummified skeletons have been found and sold by Thai traders for huge sums to those people that collect rare and obscure finds. Some have sold in the millions but they are a dangerous find. One of the things that make the tiny beasts so rare to find in the first place is that it is said their tiny tusks hold enough poisonous venom to kill an adult, even after they have been dead for some time. A trader or a collector could easily wind up dead if they mishandle their "find".
First, I must state that since there is no living proof of these little guys, just as we have no living proof of Bigfoot or the Jersey Devil or the like, we must say the Thai Water Elephant is, at this time, a legend and that legend is said to have begun in the waterways of the mountain regions of Thailand. It is said that the tiny little elephants live in a pack and spend their time in living in the muddy streams that run through the thickly forested regions where the mud is so dense only their little pointy tusks show above the muddy surface. This is why they are never seen by human eyes and why they are so deadly. It is also why their mummified remains can sometimes be found. The mud serves as a protective shield that hides them and as one to protect and preserve their skin after death so their condition is such that collectors would pay top dollar for them. A person walking through the forest, passing through a muddy stream might well step on one of those pointy tusks and die from the injected venom, thinking they were bitten by a snake or some other venomous creature indigenous to the area.
So, whether or not you take any stock in the theory of the tiny elephants, it seems logical to me. I would love to see one.....they must be awfully cute, poisonous or not!

Comment on Gimmicks & glitz (overshadowing or drawing attention to the real issues?)

Marcus Cotton — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 05:15:02 GMT

TIGER TOPS NEPAL

SITUATION UPDATE #22 Date: 18/12/09

SOME LODGES RE-OPENING

LEASE SITUATION UPDATE

We are very pleased that four lodges with lease concessions have now singed new agreements for some 2½ years with the Parks Department. After a long delay, and much vacillation and obstruction, tourism will return to Chitwan.

However, the sad reality is that these four lodges are being asked to pay between Rs.200,000 and Rs.400,000 (US$2,300 to $5,500) more than their old lease whereas Tiger Tops is being asked to pay Rs.2,000,000 (US$27,000) more FOR THE SAME LEASE TERMS.

The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Forests appreciates the outrageous inequality of this disparity. We are currently in negotiation with the government to resolve this. Tiger Tops will then be re-opening.

In the meantime, Karnali Lodge and Camp are fully operating and the new rooms at Karnali Lodge have had their “initial rough edges” honed. Wildlife sightings are good – including regular tiger sightings and periodic sighting of the Gangetic Dolphin. Tharu Lodge has a fine range of jungle walks inside Chitwan National Park, river safaris on the Narayani River in the park (good Gharial crocodile sighting potential), and elephant safaris in the rich buffer zone forest adjacent to Tharu Lodge. Add to the wildlife activities, the local village life and culture, then Tharu becomes an excellent “one-stop” destination for the terai.

While Tiger Tops lease negotiation is finalised, we appreciate there are some guests who may not have time to get to Bardia and do wish to be inside the park. We are able to make arrangements with one of the re-opened lodges and book guests there – it is not, of course, Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge or Tiger Tops Tented Camp, but will provide the in-jungle experience.

As soon as there are further developments, we will update you all.

Marcus Cotton
Chief Executive
Tiger Mountain Nepal

TIGER MOUNTAIN Nepal, PIONEERING RESPONSIBLE CONSERVATION TOURISM SINCE 1965

Comment on Gimmicks & glitz (overshadowing or drawing attention to the real issues?)

Himalayan Times — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 04:44:26 GMT

Ramesh Prasad Bhushal

KATHMANDU: The first jungle safari resort of the nation, Tiger Tops, may leave the Chitwan National Park after the decision of the government to permit the hotels and lodges inside the CNP till the end of 2012. The Tiger Tops had been operating in the CNP since 1965.

“We are paying considerably higher tax to the government compared to other hotels inside the park, which are getting equal facilities as us. On top of that, the government decided to increase the tax by 20 per cent on the amount that has been paid. All this has made the shareholders of Tiger Tops contemplate leaving CNP,” Yadav Bantawa, General Manager, Tiger Tops, told this correspondent. This resort alone pays Rs 10 million per year as royalty and conservation tax.

Four of the seven hotels inside the CNP, namely Narayan Safari,

Island Resort, Temple Tiger and Chitwan Jungle Lodge, have resumed their business after a

three-year agreement with the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation. The remaining hotels — Gainda Wildlife Camp, Tiger Tops and Machan Resort — are yet to sign an agreement to operate their business.

“We want the authorities to look into the case of Tiger Tops and do a rethink on the tax issue. If no positive outcome emerges, the oldest jungle safari may not resume its business,” added Bantawa.

The officials at the DNPWC, however, said there was no possibility to do a rethink on the decision and the hotels should pay the increased tax. Every year, there will be a further increment of 10 per cent, they added.

The government had decided to renew the agreement of hotels operating inside CNP for the last time for three years in the wake of Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

Before the cabinet decision, the hotels’ case was taken up by the Public Account Committee. In view of the Nepal Tourism Year 2011, the PAC at first recommended the government to allow the hotels to operate till that year. But the parliamentary committee on natural resources intervened, halting the implementation of the PAC decision, arguing that the natural resource committee, and not the PAC, should decide on the issue.

According to Article 3 of the National Park and Wildlife Conservation Regulation 1973, CNP has the authority to permit any lodge and resort inside the CNP after floating tenders. But under an agreement, which was renewed in 1993 for 16 years, the hotels were allowed to operate inside the CNP without the formal tender process. The hotels have been permitted to resume their business without the tender process for the last, giving them enough time to prepare to quit the entire core area and operate their business outside the park.

Comment on Caring is Sharing (yes, Am, we're talking to you)

BPA Jayaweera — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:58:54 GMT

much needed for covervation of this magnificient animal to the future genration wish to share the findings

Comment on Confusing Cultural Conundrum in the Central Highlands (Elephant Town Vietnam style)

Saigon Gaia Phong — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:58:24 GMT

Dak Lak pays tribute to elephant hunters

The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak December 19 paid homage to the practice of elephant hunting by local ethnic people in Krong Ana Commune, Buon Don District.

A performance of hunting elephants during Dak Lak Province’s tourism and culture week December 16-20 (Photo: SGGP)

The event was part of the Buon Ma Thuot-Dak Lak Culture and Tourism Week, hosted by the province from December 16-20.

Tourists and locals watched December 19 as 31 hunters rode 15 tamed elephants to catch a wild elephant.

The father of elephant hunting is N’Thu K’Nul from Laos, who was born in 1928.

He was also the founder of Ban Don, a famous area of Buon Don District with a long tradition of hunting and taming elephants.

He captured hundreds of elephants including a rare white elephant, which he presented to Thai royalty in 1861.

The King of Thailand at the time conferred him the title of “Khunjunob,” meaning “elephant hunting king.”