Myanmar is planning to open its first elephant museum at the Natural History Museum in Yangon Zoological Garden on March 3, according to a press conference held on February 26.

It is the first elephant museum ever in Myanmar and will display messages to show the importance of elephants and to educate the public on how elephants can be protected.

Director Thein Toe from Forestry Department of Yangon Region said, “It is intended to let the public know more about the nature of elephants and connection between human and elephants. Another thing is to reduce the conflict between wild elephants and humans, to preserve wild elephants living in the forests of Myanmar, to gather information and cooperation from the public to arrest poachers who killed elephants to trade their parts illegally and to know how to manage the home-grown elephants.”

The museum has been funded by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF – Myanmar) and a Myanmar architecture group named WEER drew the design. It will be displayed and showcased daily about the bones and parts of elephants, pictures and habits of the elephants in videos.

The museum will be displayed as a part of the Natural History Museum and Forestry Department will take over it.

The visitors can explore the museum for three months with free of charge and later the authorities are planning to charge with reasonable entrance fees to preserve the museum in a long time.

The authorities will destroy seized elephant ivories, parts of elephants and wild animals along with the opening ceremony of the elephant museum.