Conservation works to save threatened elephants in Malaysia
Hilary Markiewicz, AOL.com
Mar 2nd 2016 10:30AM
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Elephant conservation in Malaysia
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Conservation works to save threatened elephants in Malaysia
KUALA GANDAH, MALAYSIA - MARCH 01: An Elephant is seen swimming in a river near the National Elephant Conservation Centre on March 1, 2016 in Kuala Gandah, Malaysia. Almost 1,200 wild Asian Elephants, also known as Elephus Maximus, are left in Malaysia and this is the only conservation centre set up to relocate these displaced pachyderms. The elephants here have been rescued from all over Peninsula Malaysia, providing them a safe sanctuary in the wild, according to World Wildlife Foundation, the increasing human population in Asia has affected the elephant's dense, but diminishing forest habitat. (Photo by Mohd Samsul Mohd Said/Getty Images)
KUALA GANDAH, MALAYSIA - MARCH 01: Foreign tourists are seen bathing with an elephant in a river near the National Elephant Conservation Centre on March 1, 2016 in Kuala Gandah, Malaysia. Almost 1,200 wild Asian Elephants, also known as Elephus Maximus, are left in Malaysia and this is the only conservation centre set up to relocate these displaced pachyderms. The elephants here have been rescued from all over Peninsula Malaysia, providing them a safe sanctuary in the wild, according to World Wildlife Foundation, the increasing human population in Asia has affected the elephant's dense, but diminishing forest habitat. (Photo by Mohd Samsul Mohd Said/Getty Images)
KUALA GANDAH, MALAYSIA - MARCH 01: A Nature guide is seen walking with an elephant after bathing and cleaning in a river near the National Elephant Conservation Centre on March 1, 2016 in Kuala Gandah, Malaysia. Almost 1,200 wild Asian Elephants, also known as Elephus Maximus, are left in Malaysia and this is the only conservation centre set up to relocate these displaced pachyderms. The elephants here have been rescued from all over Peninsula Malaysia, providing them a safe sanctuary in the wild, according to World Wildlife Foundation, the increasing human population in Asia has affected the elephant's dense, but diminishing forest habitat. (Photo by Mohd Samsul Mohd Said/Getty Images)
KUALA GANDAH, MALAYSIA - MARCH 01: Nature guides bath elephant's in a river near the National Elephant Conservation Centre on March 1, 2016 in Kuala Gandah, Malaysia. Almost 1,200 wild Asian Elephants, also known as Elephus Maximus, are left in Malaysia and this is the only conservation centre set up to relocate these displaced pachyderms. The elephants here have been rescued from all over Peninsula Malaysia, providing them a safe sanctuary in the wild, according to World Wildlife Foundation, the increasing human population in Asia has affected the elephant's dense, but diminishing forest habitat. (Photo by Mohd Samsul Mohd Said/Getty Images)
KUALA GANDAH, MALAYSIA - MARCH 01: A Nature guide is seen with an elephant in a river near the National Elephant Conservation Centre on March 1, 2016 in Kuala Gandah, Malaysia. Almost 1,200 wild Asian Elephants, also known as Elephus Maximus, are left in Malaysia and this is the only conservation centre set up to relocate these displaced pachyderms. The elephants here have been rescued from all over Peninsula Malaysia, providing them a safe sanctuary in the wild, according to World Wildlife Foundation, the increasing human population in Asia has affected the elephant's dense, but diminishing forest habitat. (Photo by Mohd Samsul Mohd Said/Getty Images)
KUALA GANDAH, MALAYSIA - MARCH 01: A Nature guide rides an elephant in a river near the National Elephant Conservation Centre on March 1, 2016 in Kuala Gandah, Malaysia. Almost 1,200 wild Asian Elephants, also known as Elephus Maximus, are left in Malaysia and this is the only conservation centre set up to relocate these displaced pachyderms. The elephants here have been rescued from all over Peninsula Malaysia, providing them a safe sanctuary in the wild, according to World Wildlife Foundation, the increasing human population in Asia has affected the elephant's dense, but diminishing forest habitat. (Photo by Mohd Samsul Mohd Said/Getty Images)
This picture taken on November 10, 2015 shows mahouts with their elephants in a river at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah, Malaysia's Pahang state. The conservation centre is a base for the Elephant Relocation Team, which began the elephant translocation programme in 1974. AFP PHOTO / MOHD RASFAN (Photo credit should read MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images)
This picture taken on November 10, 2015 shows a mahout riding an elephant along a river at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah, Malaysia's Pahang state. The conservation centre is a base for the Elephant Relocation Team, which began the elephant translocation programme in 1974. AFP PHOTO / MOHD RASFAN (Photo credit should read MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images)
This picture taken on November 10, 2015 shows visitors looking on as mahouts lead their elephants from a river after washing them at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah, Malaysia's Pahang state. The conservation centre is a base for the Elephant Relocation Team, which began the elephant translocation programme in 1974. AFP PHOTO / MOHD RASFAN (Photo credit should read MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images)
This picture taken on November 10, 2015 shows mahouts riding elephants along a river at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah, Malaysia's Pahang state. The conservation centre is a base for the Elephant Relocation Team, which began the elephant translocation programme in 1974. AFP PHOTO / MOHD RASFAN (Photo credit should read MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images)
A foreign visitor feeds an elephant at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Center in Kuala Gandah, Pahang, on the outside Kuala Lumpur on June 16, 2013. The conservation center is a base for the Elephant Relocation Team, which began the elephant translocation program in 1974. AFP PHOTO / MOHD RASFAN (Photo credit should read MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Visitors play with an elephant in the river at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Center in Kuala Gandah, Pahang, on the outside Kuala Lumpur on June 16, 2013. The conservation center is a base for the Elephant Relocation Team, which began the elephant translocation program in 1974. AFP PHOTO / MOHD RASFAN (Photo credit should read MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Keepers lead the elephants out of the river after cleaning them at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Center in Kuala Gandah, Pahang, on the outside Kuala Lumpur on June 16, 2013. The conservation center is a base for the Elephant Relocation Team, which began the elephant translocation program in 1974. AFP PHOTO / MOHD RASFAN (Photo credit should read MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images)
A Keeper rides an elephant in the river at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Center in Kuala Gandah, Pahang, on the outside Kuala Lumpur on June 16, 2013. The conservation center is a base for the Elephant Relocation Team, which began the elephant translocation program in 1974. AFP PHOTO / MOHD RASFAN (Photo credit should read MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images)
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Only about 1,200 wild Asian Elephants, also known as Elephas Maximus, are left in Malaysia -- but one conservation is looking to change that.
The National Elephant Conservation Center in Kuala Gandah, the only organization set up to relocate these displaced pachyderms, rescues elephants from all over Malaysia and provides them a safe sanctuary in the wild.
The animals are at risk due to the increasing human population in Asia which has greatly affected their dense, but diminishing, forest habitat.
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