A fondness for rings and bracelets embedded with elephant hairs is fueling a worrying fashion fad in a country notorious for its illicit wildlife trade, from rhino horns to pangolin scales, tiger teeth and bear bile. In nearby Myanmar elephants are killed to feed a growing demand at home and in China for their skin, believed to cure eczema or acne. Loss of habitat and poaching has also badly dented elephant numbers in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, where they were worshiped for centuries. As legend goes, finding a tail hair by chance on the forest floor was considered good luck — local lore that has been peddled in recent years by shop owners selling the strands, along with ivory jewellery and Buddha statues that can fetch up to $900. “They loved and considered elephants part of their family so they wouldn’t do anything to hurt them,” according to Linh Nga Nie Kdam, a researcher on Ede culture.

Source: Egypt Independent September 26, 2018 08:15 UTC