Brigitte Bardot urges Malaysian government to rescue elephant in captivity in Langkawi

KUALA LUMPUR: Screen legend Brigitte Bardot has urged the government to let a wild-born Malaysian elephant kept in captivity in Langkawi to retire in the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary.

The former singer and actress expressed her concerns about the elephant, named Lasah, in a letter to Natural Resources and Environmental Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, dated Oct 11.

Bardot, a renown animal activist, said she was aware that Lasah lived alone and chained for several hours a day. She added that the elephant was used and abused for tourism purposes on the island.

She said, according a Malaysian NGO, media reports and several petitions, Lasah had been used in tourism and entertainment for more than 25 years, worked in a logging camp and spent many years in zoos in and outside the country.

"As you and your Ministry are aware, the only way elephants accept being ridden by tourists is by being crushed and frequently abused.

"Thanks to the advent of the internet and different social medias, this fact is now a common knowledge.

"It is also widely known that elephants must not be kept alone in captivity, males included. Depriving Lasah of the companionship of other elephants is cruel and has severe psychological impact on him, not to mention the repetitive elephant rides and the chains," she said in the letter.

Bardot added that the abuses and exploitation of Lasah has prevented him from expressing his natural behaviors, such as foraging and interacting with other elephants thus why retiring him to the sanctuary would offer him the opportunity to do so.

"To this day, the Malaysian government has spent tens of millions of Ringgit on pandas coming from China, and I can only hope that such a financial effort translates a certain concern about wildlife.

"Therefore I believe that the Malaysian government will have no problem with welcoming and caring for Lasah, who is a Malaysian-born elephant, at the sanctuary.

"It is a moral and ethical obligation to give Lasah the freedom he needs and deserves after so many years of suffering.

"I respectfully ask the Malaysian government to retire Lasah to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary where he can live as a free elephant without fear of abuse and exploitation.

"This is what Lasah deserves and the gesture of compassion everyone expects from the Malaysian government," she said.

In July last year, Langkawi Elephant Adventure had dismissed allegations that it had abused Lasah.

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Brigitte Bardot urges Malaysian government to rescue elephant in captivity in Langkawi

KUALA LUMPUR: Screen legend Brigitte Bardot has urged the government to let a wild-born Malaysian elephant kept in captivity in Langkawi to retire in the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary.

The former singer and actress expressed her concerns about the elephant, named Lasah, in a letter to Natural Resources and Environmental Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, dated Oct 11.

Bardot, a renown animal activist, said she was aware that Lasah lived alone and chained for several hours a day. She added that the elephant was used and abused for tourism purposes on the island.

She said, according a Malaysian NGO, media reports and several petitions, Lasah had been used in tourism and entertainment for more than 25 years, worked in a logging camp and spent many years in zoos in and outside the country.

"As you and your Ministry are aware, the only way elephants accept being ridden by tourists is by being crushed and frequently abused.

"Thanks to the advent of the internet and different social medias, this fact is now a common knowledge.

"It is also widely known that elephants must not be kept alone in captivity, males included. Depriving Lasah of the companionship of other elephants is cruel and has severe psychological impact on him, not to mention the repetitive elephant rides and the chains," she said in the letter.

Bardot added that the abuses and exploitation of Lasah has prevented him from expressing his natural behaviors, such as foraging and interacting with other elephants thus why retiring him to the sanctuary would offer him the opportunity to do so.

"To this day, the Malaysian government has spent tens of millions of Ringgit on pandas coming from China, and I can only hope that such a financial effort translates a certain concern about wildlife.

"Therefore I believe that the Malaysian government will have no problem with welcoming and caring for Lasah, who is a Malaysian-born elephant, at the sanctuary.

"It is a moral and ethical obligation to give Lasah the freedom he needs and deserves after so many years of suffering.

"I respectfully ask the Malaysian government to retire Lasah to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary where he can live as a free elephant without fear of abuse and exploitation.

"This is what Lasah deserves and the gesture of compassion everyone expects from the Malaysian government," she said.

In July last year, Langkawi Elephant Adventure had dismissed allegations that it had abused Lasah.

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Lasah will remain at Langkawi

Here comes bad news for friends of Lasah, the ageing work elephant: Despite public outrage at his alleged ill treatment and a long campaign to secure his release, Lasah will remain at the Langkawi Elephant Adventures (LEA) amusement park on Langkawi island in Kedah.

Malaysian wildlife authorities have decided they saw no reason to take the elephant away from the park and relocate him to an elephant shelter in Sabah as animal lovers would have liked.

A special team of officials, headed by Azimuddin Bahari, deputy secretary-general at the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, began investigating the condition of the elephant last March after months of allegations by animal rights advocates that the 37-year-old pachyderm had been facing routine abuse at the facility. Minister Wan Junaid Tuanku Jaafar himself visited the park to check on Lasah and speak with local staffers in March.

Based on inspections by the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) and the Malaysian Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (Mazpa), the elephant was deemed to be healthy and well kept. “The LEA management complied with all the regulations set by Perhilitan, and this report was supported by a consultant for wildlife management,” the committee said in a statement.

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Langkawi park elephant in good shape, says Natural Resources and Environment Ministry

PETALING JAYA: The viral photo of an elephant chained on all fours at Langkawi Elephant Adventures (LEA) on Langkawi island is in "good shape and healthy", said the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

Photos of a chained Asian elephant named Lasah have been circulated widely since July 2016, with claims from non-governmental organisation Friends of the Orangutans saying that Lasah was living in "deplorable conditions" and was being exploited at LEA.

The Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Perhilitan has conducted several inspections on LEA after receiving complaints about the elephant, adding that LEA has also been investigated several times.

It added in its statement that LEA was visited by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar along with the Ministry's deputy secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Azimuddin Bahari and Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director general Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim on Tuesday, saying that the visit was to inspect the premises and the elephant.

The Ministry said it concluded that all investigations and inspections "found the elephant in good shape and healthy".

"The condition of the premises is in compliance with the regulations such as having sufficient space and shelter, and so on," said the ministry in a statement.

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NGO demands release of Lasah, the Langkawi elephant

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian NGO Friends of the Orangutans Malaysia (Foto) is up in arms over what it claims is continued abuse of an Asian elephant used for tourism purposes on the popular holiday island of Langkawi.

Foto initiated a campaign in July last year to urge the ministry of natural resources and environment (NRE) to relocate Lasah to the Kuala Gandah elephant sanctuary after photos of the 36-year-old elephant, chained on all four legs, were exposed.

“We were shocked to see images of Lasah shackled on all fours and later found out about his tragic past and present fate. It seems to us he has been wrung for financial profit for over 25 years by different individuals,” said Foto director Upreshpal Singh.

The NGO says Lasah has been used in zoos, a logging camp and the entertainment industry, was transferred to Langkawi island in 2006 and is today used by Langkawi Elephant Adventures (LEA) for rides and other activities. He is the only elephant in Langkawi. Lasah also appeared in the 1999 film Anna and the King featuring stars Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fatt.

In a report by a local news outlet, LEA director Serene Lau Xiao Woon refuted claims that the park was abusing Lasah and said the elephant was chained to help him recover from wounds on the face and legs.

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