Phu is a Karen word for a male elephant.
"Chang Pang" is a female elephant without tusks. There are females with a bit of tusks called "Khanai".
"Chang Plai" is a male elephant with tusks.
Chang Mae is the Thai word for mother and is added to the name after her first child is born.
Wild elephants
1996: 1 200-1 500 (Santiapillai, IUCN1996).
2002: 1000 elephants Lohanan (2002)
2010: 1600 Sompoad Srikosamatara, 2010
53 elephants were known to have been killed in Thailand in the wild from 1992 to 1997, 24 for their tusks.
captive population
In 1884, the north of Thailand alone had more than 20,000 captive elephants.
1965: the Department of Livestock Development reported that there were only 11,192 captive elephants.
1959-1969: 1138 elephants were legally exported (Storer 1981)
1979: Two female elephants (2 and ~ years old) were exported by the Dusit Zoo, Bangkok, to the Irish capitals Royal Zoological Society, in trade for 2 giraffes on 3 July, 1979. (Storer 1981)
1985: Later, in 1985, the number decreased to only 3,381.
1989: teak logging operations became banned, and some 2 000 elephants and owners became unemployed, in about the same time when tourism reached very high numbers, and those elephants became transferred into tourism activities in more than 100 camps and "elephant villages" (Baan Chaang).
1997: 2,180 left (Puttipong Khawnual 2005)
2012: 26 elephants without registration papers were confiscated and impounded at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center (TECC). At the March 13th National Elephant Day symposium in Bangkok, the DNP Chief estimated that 10% of the captive elephants in Thailand are not registered.
2014: a total of 4,435 elephants had the owner record. For the past 6 years, the birth rate (62.67±10.69) was higher than the dead rate (23.83±8.01) (p<0.0001). (Weerasak Pintawongs)
A typical elephant is valued at 400,000 baht ($1,200) and a baby (under 5 years) may cost upto 1 million baht (2010)
Export of elephants
1965: 76, 1966: 74, 1967: 77, 1968: 49, 1969: 52, 1970: 88, 1971: 84, 1972: 113, 1973: 43, 1974: 22, 1975: 12, 1976: 4 (Source: Department of Livestock Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, (Anon, 1994d) and earlier years of the same annual publication. via Lair, Richard, FAO: http://www.fao.org/3/ac774e/ac774e0h.htm)
According to CITES trade database, exports 1980-2020: 1980: 1 (USA), 1981: 3 (USA+Soviet Union), 1982: 2 (Japan), 1986: 2 (India), 1987: 2 (Germany+Japan), 1988: 4 (Japan), 1989: 3 (Japan), 1990: 2 (Hong Kong), 1991: 2 (Hong Kong), 1993: 2 (Japan), 1994: 3 (Japan+USA), 1995: 9 (China+Israel+Japan+Myanmar+USA), 1996: 22 (China+Japan+Myanmar), 1997: 17 (India+Israel+Japan+Myanmar), 1998: 10 (China+Japan), 1999: 10 (Canada+China+Japan+S. Korea), 2000: 17 (China+Japan+Sri Lanka), 2001: 14 (Denmark+Sri Lanka+S. Korea; 9 elephants to Korea origin from Laos) 2002: 19 (Japan+Philippines), 2003: 15 (Japan+Myanmar), 2004: 26 (China+Japan+Myanmar+Sweden), 2005: 12 (China+Japan), 2006: 20 (Australia+China+Germany+Japan), 2008: 3 (S. Korea, origin from Laos), 2009: 4 (Canada+Japan), 2012: 3 (S. Korea), 2013: 3 (S. Korea), 2015: 1 (Japan, origin from Laos)
(Source: CITES trade database)
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