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.

Elephants bathe in a pond at the Elephant Conservation Center in Laos' Sainyabuli province - Copyright AFP TANG CHHIN Sothy Elephants bathe in a pond at the Elephant ...

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 ...

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 ...

low 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 ...

Researchers in Northern Laos are combating the decline of Asian elephants, with a population plummeting from 1500 to only 500-1000 elephants due to habitat loss, logging, and limited breeding.