A significant number of experts have long noted that eczema is a condition where patches of skin becomes inflamed, itchy, red, cracked, and rough. Experts have further revealed that there are many different types of eczema that ranges from having blisters up to crusty plaques of skin. Until elephants have once again been put to the spotlight after it has been recently discovered that elephant skin is the latest fad luring devotees of traditional medicine. An unnamed shop owner has claimed that an elephant's skin can cure skin diseases like eczema.
Elephant's Skin Sheds Light To Eczema
According to reports revealed by Straits Times, as the anonymous shop owner was talking to a potential buyer, who bulks at the price tag of 775 kyat or 81 Singapore cents per sq cm of elephant skin has explained that first, you will have to burn pieces of skin by putting them in a clay pot. After doing so, you get the ash and mix it with coconut oil to apply on the eczema. Furthermore, another young man has claimed that a paste made from ground-up elephant teeth do have the ability cure pimples and remove black spots.
However, due to the demand of elephants' skin and the recently discovered number of uses from these animals, it was found that elephant poaching in Myanmar has already jumped tenfold in recent years. Regional adviser at the Wildlife Conservation Society, Mr. Antony Lynam, has claimed that the country is in the middle of a crisis. He said that if the situation continues to happen, it can't be too many more years before wild elephants are gone.
Government Initiative
Meanwhile, as per Phys Org, elephants are just one of the dozens of endangered species that are being trafficked through Myanmar. The country's wild elephant population has also been viewed as the reason to have almost halved over the past decade to around 2,000-3,000. Consequently, the signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) clearly states that hunting of endangered animals is now considered as illegal in Myanmar. As of the press time, the government pledged to strengthen the law on killing elephants and clamp down on the trade in ivory and body parts.
