Working Elephants of Taungoo

An hour and a half drive out of Taungoo (N/E of Yangon) elephants are still used to log forests – teak for furniture etc. and hardwood to produce charcoal. Various permissions were given for our small group of 5 visitors to join the loggers. We road into the logging area on commuting elephants (relatively young in age) and participated in the bathing of older workers.

Then we watched the logging operation where an elephant was harnessed to drag an approximately 2000 pound log up steep terrain (no path…just hauling through bamboo trees and jungle) before descending to area beside a small river. Here the huge log would be cut into 4s and piled by the elephant in readiness for the burning to produce charcoal (used a lot in Myanmar for cooking and heating).

After lunch we tracked down a mom and baby in the forest: baby was 17 days old. 

Working elephants are restrained but released at night to wander.

On our second day, walking the path into Taungoo from our hotel, which was a bit out in the country, was delightful …through fields and very modest villages. This couple requested a picture which we were happy to take!