Thai Elephant Ivory Facts

Thai elephant ivory facts:
1. Thai female elephants do not have tusks. They have small "kanai" instead.
2. Only about 10% of Thai male elephants have tusks, the rest have tushes.
3. About 40% of the Thai elephant population are male, thus only about 4% of total elephant population have ivory tusks. Sadly this also means that there are only about 160 elephants with tusks left in Thailand.
5. Therefore Thai elephants are not hunted for ivory per se.
6. Elephant tusks on display in Thai living rooms and staterooms belonged to deceased family owned or important captive elephants. Not hunting trophies, like in the Western countries, but are memorials to a deceased elephant.
7. More desirable than ivory to Thai people is the elephant tail's hair. It will be woven into a ring and once blessed is supposed to give special powers to the wearer.
8. Thailand has been a transit point for illegal African elephant ivory trade. Both female and male African elephants have tusks and are thus hunted for their ivory.