Thai authorities have seized 26 elephants in 3 different raids in the week of 19-23 August. Traffic said the case began after police busted a gang that issued false elephant certificates. More than 70 fake certificates were later found in several tourist camps located in southern provinces. The operation involved almost 100 police officers and wildlife officials, and more unregistered elephants are expected to be seized from camps in the coming months. "Police believe that elephants were taken from the wild, either in Myanmar or elsewhere, smuggled into Thailand, where they were trained, transferred to the camps, and then registered at a later date using these falsely provided certificates," Traffic said. Even though the capture of wild elephants for entertainment use is banned, there is no law requiring proof that a performing animal was born in captivity. Pol Col Watcharin said camps "usually take elephants when they are babies because tourists like them, they are small, easy to be trained and don't eat much". There are currently almost 4,000 working elephants in the tourism industry in Thailand. Just 2,000 remain in the wild. (Source : DAN)