The Forgotten Elephants
A review of the illegal trade threat to Asian elephants in the Greater Mekong Sub-region
Asian elephants have been categorised as endangered for nearly four decades and their cross-border commercial trade has been banned for almost 50 years. The threats posed by human elephant conflict and habitat loss on the species have been well documented, although less systematic attention has been given to the threat of poaching and illegal trade.
The last known study of illegal trade relating to Asian elephants was conducted by the non-governmental organisation Elephant Family in 2019, which found that the illicit trade in Asian elephant skin and its products had increased online and expanded geographically.
With support from the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Asian Elephant Conservation Fund, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA UK) is commencing a multiyear project to update stakeholder knowledge of the current nature, scope and scale of illegal trade threats facing Asian elephants in the GMS.
This literature review has been conducted as the foundational step to contextualise the project by summarising and synthesising available research, policy and legislative interventions with the aim of establishing a baseline to inform and guide the subsequent phases of the project while providing a functional resource for stakeholders linked to Asian elephant conservation.