YANGON, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- A new elephant camp will be opened in Myanmar's Magway region next month as a wildlife-based tourist destination and a wildlife conservation center, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Monday.
The 3.24-hectare elephant camp to be inaugurated on Feb. 9 will feature bungalows, messing halls, elephant houses plus a 283-hectare grazing ground and a 48.6-hectare vacant and virgin land to build a public place and grow trees.
Visitors are arranged to be able to ride elephants and rest at the camp which will have 11 bungalows equipped with all necessary facilities and a food stall run by the camp staff.
So far, the camp has seven elephants and their number is set to increase to 15 later.
In April last year, Myanmar authorities had opened a total of three elephant camps in Mandalay and Magway regions.
The three elephant camps include two in Mandalay region's Nyaung U and Pyin Oo Lwin, housing seven and one elephants respectively and one camp in Magway region housing six elephants.
Meanwhile, Myanmar Timber Enterprise and Four Paws International (EPI) have signed a memorandum of understanding for establishing elephant camps and conservation of elephants with the use of 1.8 million Euros (2.1 million U.S. dollars).
The implementation of elephant camp-based tourism was initiated by the Myanmar Timber Enterprise in 2016. So far, a total of 16 elephant camps have been built.
Myanmar government has worked out a plan to conduct a 10-year action plan on elephant conservation (2018-2027), which is aimed at preventing a decrease in the number of wildlife elephants and a reduction of their pasture land.
The action plan covers protection of wild elephants and their pasture land, solving human-elephant conflict, prevention of and enforcing action against illegal trading of elephants and their body parts as well as managing tame elephants.
