Researchers analyse DNA from dung to save Laos elephants

Sainyabuli, Laos: Slow and silent, former logging elephant Mae Khoun Nung emerges from a forest in northern Laos and follows her guide to an animal ho...

Sainyabuli, Laos: Slow and silent, former logging elephant Mae Khoun Nung emerges from a forest in northern Laos and follows her guide to an animal hospital for a check-up.

Once abundant in the forests of Laos, Asian elephants like her have been decimated by habitat destruction, gruelling labour in the logging industry, poaching and scarce breeding opportunities.

But conservationists are hoping DNA analysis of elephants' dung will help them track both captive and wild tuskers, so they can secure a healthy genetic pool and craft an effective breeding plan to protect the species.

Laos -- once proudly known as "Lane Xang" or "Land of a Million Elephants" -- has between 500 and 1,000 of the animals left, just one-third of the population two decades ago, according to conservation group WWF-Laos.

Around 10 elephants die each year for every one to two born, a rate that puts the animals at risk of dying out completely in the Southeast Asian nation.