The national animal of Laos is the Asian elephant. This animal is a vitally important national symbol and an embodiment of many different aspects of Lao identity. They still survive in fairly strong numbers in the wilds of Laos, though they were once a great deal more numerous.
Elephants, it is safe to say, are among the most symbolically important of all animals.
To cultures that have known about them, they have virtually always held some significance if not a simple sense of awe and impressiveness.
For this reason, and many others, they are today the national animal of Laos.
Let’s find out more.
What is the national animal of Laos?
The national animal of Laos is the elephant.
Naturally, given Laos’s geographic position, the elephant in question is the Asian elephant.
Whereas there are multiple species of African elephant, Asian elephants are one unified species, indeed the only remaining species of their wider genus.
That said, there are three recognized subspecies of Asian elephant.
They are distributed fairly widely, found across India and Southeast Asia.
They are Asia’s largest living land animal, though usually smaller than the African bush elephant.
They can vary in size but a full grown bull, on average, stands around nine feet tall at the shoulder and is around four tons in weight.
Cows are usually a bit smaller, around eight feet at the shoulders and on average 2.7 tons.
They are around 18 to 21 feet long including their trunks, with a tail that is usually four to five feet long.
They prefer grasslands, tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, as well as deciduous forests both moist and dry and sometimes dry thorn forests.
They will also sometimes inhabit cultivated land and scrubland.
They can occur at a wide range of elevations, anywhere from sea level to almost 10,000 feet.
They have an extremely well-developed, not to mention large even for their size, neocortex, which is something they share with other intelligent species like apes and dolphins.
They have highly developed cognitive abilities and show the ability to use tools, and exhibit a huge range of behaviors like grief, mimcry, altruism, compassion, and what is called allomothering.
This means that members of a group other than the mother of an infant will show essentially help in the infant’s upbringing.
Sadly, the species is presently listed as endangered.
Their numbers have drastically declined over the years for a variety of reasons, most associated with human activity.
Why, then, are they the national animal of Laos?
Why is the elephant the national animal of Laos?
The elephant is the national animal of Laos for a variety of reasons.
For one thing, they embody many aspects of Lao national values.
They are seen as images of strength, power, courage and yet also compassion and unity.
Large groups live together and help one another in a way that human societies, no doubt, could certainly learn from.
They are simultaneously great, powerful animals, while at the same time having a gentle spirit and temperament and being filled with curiosity and gentle wisdom.
This is why they are important not only in Laos, but in human history in general.
On the other hand, they are more literally seen to embody the natural beauty of Laos.
They are spirits of the natural landscape, inhabiting so many varied environments as they do.
Their might and power is a thing to behold even from a great distance, and thus they have come to be seen as a key member of the Lao wildlife.
There is, though, also the question of conservation.
By making the elephant the national animal, Laos also hopes to bring attention to the fact that they are poised on a knife edge in terms of conservation.
How many Asian elephants are left?
In total, across Asia, there are estimated to be around 40-50,000 Asian elephants left in the wild.
This may seem like a strong number, and they are certainly not on the immediate brink of extinction.
That said, this number represents a huge decline from where they were only recently, and thus the rate of depopulation is a worrying thing.
Of course, the ivory trade has been one of the biggest problems for Asian elephants.
For many decades ivory was much sought after all over the world and so elephants everywhere were ruthlessly hunted for their tusks.
Are there still elephants in Laos?
There are indeed still elephants remaining in Laos, though again their numbers have declined massively in the last century or two.
Indeed, Laos is built on the land that was once known as LanXang, or the “land of a million elephants”.
Today, sadly, there are estimated to be around 1,000 elephants left in the wild in Laos, and a further 500 in captivity.
So, again, their cause is not entirely lost and things may improve in the future.
But it will be no easy task to increase their numbers and serious, major efforts will need to be undertaken to ensure their continued survival.
So, though they are in a precarious situation and major efforts will need to be undertaken to ensure the continued survival of this precious species, they remain among the most emblematically important animals in Laos today.
They have played a huge role in the country’s symbolic past and even today they are revered in just the same way that they have been for many millennia.