Elephant H’Ban battled with some dental problems for months, causing it eating problems, said Huynh Trung Luan, the centre director.

 An elephant in Dak Lak 

H’Ban’s owner Bap Khoi in Lien Son Town said that the funeral was held on December 11.

The animal was used to serve tourists for a long time. Three years ago, it was selected to help the birth-giving process of a local elephant named H’Ban Nang. That was the first domesticated elephant in the central highlands province to have given birth in 30 years. However, the baby elephant died right before being born.

According to Huynh Trung Luan, director of the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Centre, said that 38-year-old elephant H’Ban Nang gave birth to a 90-kilo male baby on the evening of October 8, 2017. The death was probably due to the prolonged labour.

Over the past years, the number of domesticated elephants in Dak Lak has been on a sharp fall. At present, the province is now home to around 45 captive elephants and 80 - 100 wild elephants.

Old age and exhaustion due to overworking in the tourism industry have been a major contributory factor in the problem.

Animals Asia has provided USD65,000 for Yo’k Don National Park in Dak Lak to steer the elephant-based tourism model into a more animal-rights focused direction.

Tienphong/Dtinews