Asian Elephant Conservation: Too Elephantocentric? Towards a Biocultural Approach of Conservation

Drawing from the example of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) conservation in Laos, this article primarily intends to reveal the elephantocentric vision adopted by mainstream conservation project in direction to the species. In the second part, I will present some ethnographic notes collected among local population who daily live and work with pachyderms. These notes will help in opening up a broader and more ecocentric approach of elephant conservation by highlighting links between biological and cultural diversity. By revealing the cosmo-ecological view of elephants as thought locally, I will then propose an enlarged vision of elephant conservation.