http://www.minesactioncanada.com/documents/r460.html

   Wild Animals Are Victims Of Land Mines, Too
   
   Associated Press
   
   Grant Peck
   
   June 1, 2000

   Bangkok -- Another Thai logging elephant has been seriously injured by
   a land mine, the latest pachyderm to be hurt stepping on an explosive
   on the Thai-Myanmar border. It is the same area where a celebrated
   elephant called Motola lost a foot to a land mine in August and
   reminded the world that war's most persistent legacy - millions of
   forgotten land mines -- also menaces the animal kingdom.

   Luckily for Motola and Thong In, the latest victim, their owners took
   them to the Hang Chat Elephant hospital in Lampang, 510 kilometres
   north of Bangkok. Other animals are less fortunate.

   Land mines have become almost synonymous with warfare. There are an
   estimated 110 million mines buried in 64 countries around the world.
   And while about 25,000 people are injured or killed by them every
   year, studies suggest the toll on animals is 10 to 20 times as high.

   Removal is a slow and expensive process. Typically, the biggest
   concentrations of mines are found in countries with the least amount
   of resources to deal with them places like Cambodia and Afghanistan.

   "From a human perspective, if your herds are being decimated or your
   pack animals killed, your livelihood is threatened," says Kevin
   Stewart, an Edmonton animal-rights activist who runs a Web site that
   champions creatures harmed by mines. "But more importantly, the
   animals have as much right not to be randomly blown up as humans."

   Since the wealth of rural households is often vested in domestic
   animals and livestock, the issue of animal casualties is not just
   sentimental. A study of Bosnia, Afghanistan, Cambodia and Mozambique
   published in 1995 found that the 32,904 households surveyed lost a
   total of 54,554 animals at an average cash equivalent loss of $200
   (U.S.) to each household. That's the average annual income in some
   countries.

   Wild animals, including endangered species, probably suffer most from
   land mines, says Mr. Stewart, although no major systematic studies
   have been done on the question.

   Some figures are, however, available from the Croatian War of 1991-95.
   Veterinarian Alojzije Frkovic, who studied the effects of the miltiary
   clashes on domesticated and wild animals, says that at least 57 of an
   estimated population of 400 European brown bears died from war-related
   causes. A quarter of the injuries were suffered in land-mine
   explosions and from artillery fire.

   In most places, the issue of animal casualties surfaces only in the
   occasional news story, such as reports that mines on the India-China
   border are killing such endangered animals as the Tibetan gazelle,
   wild ass, alpine musk deer and the snow leopard.

   In Southeast Asia, poachers are reportedly using mines to kill tigers.
   The crude homemade mines led park rangers in Cambodia to conclude that
   soldiers trained in guerrilla warfare were doing the hunting. The
   soldiers hunt the cats for body parts used in traditional Asian
   medicines.

   Meanwhile, the future is uncertain for the new admission to the Thai
   elephant hospital. A valuable logging elephant, Thong In arrived about
   10 days after he had exploded the mine. His left leg was totally
   shredded.

   In an enclosure nearby, Motola continues to improve. At last report,
   her stump had almost completely healed and she was hobbling about on
   three legs. So far, she has twice rejected a temporary prosthesis and
   the vets are not sure if they will try to fit a permanent one. For the
   time being, they are more concerned about weight gain. While Motola is
   in good health, she packs away about 300 kg of food a day and the vets
   fear the three remaining legs will fail her.

   Related Web sites

   Mkono page:
   
   //fn2.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/~puppydog/landmine.htm
   
   International Campaign to Ban Landmines http://www.icbl.org