PHNOM PENH, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Friday called for a greater participation from all stakeholders to protect and conserve endangered Asian elephants in the kingdom's protected areas.
The appeal was made on the World Elephant Day. Asian elephants are listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
Ministry of Environment secretary of state and spokesman Neth Pheaktra said Cambodia is home to between 400 and 600 wild Asian elephants, which live mostly in the Cardamom Mountains and in the northern provinces of Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri.
Also, there are some 70 domesticated elephants in the Southeast Asian country, he added.
"Asian elephants are under threat globally, including Cambodia due to poaching, snaring, human-elephant conflict, capture for taming and habitat degradation," he said in a news release. "We all need to work together closer to protect and conserve the Asian elephants."
Pheaktra said recently, two domesticated elephants were born in Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri, which are good news for the conservation of domesticated elephants in the kingdom.
"Peace, political stability and people's better livelihoods have given us an opportunity to protect and conserve our rare animals and biodiversity," he said.
According to the spokesman, Cambodia needs about 40.5 million U.S. dollars for 10 years (2020-2029) for protecting and conserving Asian elephants across the kingdom. ■