Gourmets devouring Thai snakes for sex

BANGKOK – Thai snakes might be creeping towards extinction because their popularity as an aphrodisiac and gourmet food is spiralling.

Only some species can be bred in captivity, an expert on snakes warned.
Poisonous snakes have a better chance of survival because they are bred for their serum.
“This matter needs co-operation from the Forestry Department and the Public Health Ministry. People must know snakes are crucial in biological, health and economic terms,” said Dr Montri Chiobamroongkiat, quality control chief at Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute.

Wildlife International conservation groups join hands to train Cambodian rangers

PHNOM PENH – Three international conservation groups including the US Fish and Wildlife Service are working with the Cambodian government to train local wildlife officers in curbing illegal hunting and logging.

Trainers from the Fish and Wildlife Service and the San Francisco-based group WildAid along with scientists from New York’s Wildlife Conservation Society will teach 40 Cambodian park rangers over the next two weeks, WildAid announced Thursday.

Jumbo dilemma

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Wild elephants are conducting raids villages and roads in search of food, putting at risk their own lives and causing headaches for farmers

As the evening mist sinks on a forest clearing, a sudden burst of activity tells villagers they are not alone. A handful of villagers lies in wait outside the Salak Phra wildlife sanctuary in Kanchanaburi province for a small herd of elephants which, in search of food, has been straying onto crop land owned by farmers.

YOU’RE IN MY FOREST: Tuskers in Khao Ang Rue Nai sanctuary.

The elephants trample on farms, and cause damage to crop land in the village. They are not welcome, but still they come.

The villagers, who carry firecrackers and anything else which will make a noise to scare the elephants away, have been specially trained to chase the elephants back into the sanctuary.