Skin care fad threatens Myanmar’s endangered elephants as demand from China drives trade in animal products
Myanmar’s wild elephant population is thought to have almost halved over the past decade to around 2,000-3,000
Under the shadow of Myanmar’s famed Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, or “Golden Rock”, punters haggle for the latest traditional medicine cure – slices of skin from the country’s fast disappearing wild elephants sold for a few dollars a square inch.
A set of stairs winds behind one of the Buddhist country’s most holy sites to a maze of shops openly selling everything from pieces of ivory and tiger’s teeth to vials of bear oil. But there is a new fad luring devotees of traditional medicine.
Elephant’s skin can cure skin diseases like eczema. You burn pieces of skin by putting them in a clay pot
“Elephant’s skin can cure skin diseases like eczema,” said one shop owner, who requested anonymity, alongside a counter brimming with porcupine quills and snake skins. “You burn pieces of skin by putting them in a clay pot. Then you get the ash and mix it with coconut oil to apply on the eczema.”
He broke off to talk to a potential buyer, who balked at the price tag of 5,000 kyat (US$3.65) per square inch (6.5 square centimetres) of elephant skin.
Another young man touting his wares nearby promised a paste made from ground up elephant teeth would “cure pimples and remove black spots” and that “your face will be smooth and white after you use it”.
Elephant poaching in Myanmar has jumped tenfold in recent years, the government said this week, driven by growing demand for ivory, hide and body parts.