In a matter of days, Australia will import four highly endangered Asian elephants—two of whom are babies—from Thailand, removing them from their families. These elephants were most likely subject to a traditional Thai breaking ritual, during which baby elephants are bound with ropes, dragged from their mothers, immobilised in wooden cages, and beaten for days with nail-studded sticks in order to break their spirits.
 
As part of a secret deal, these four elephants will be exported to Taronga Zoo in Sydney to be used for breeding. In exchange, nocturnal native Australian wildlife will be traded for exhibition in a Thai zoo.
 
Animal rights activists in Australia are furious about the proposed trade, as Australia has a poor record of caring for elephants. Taronga Zoo does not have the space or expertise to humanely house elephants—it exhibited a female and a male elephant in a tiny enclosure with inadequate environmental enrichment for more than a decade. The new elephant enclosure under construction at the zoo should, instead, be used to house elephants who are currently suffering in captivity in Australia. All other available funds should be allocated toward work in Thailand to protect the elephants’ native habitat and create much-needed sanctuaries.
 
Please help stop this cruel animal swap by writing polite letters to the Australian ministers of the environment, urging them not to approve the importation:
D.Kemp.MP@aph.gov.au
(see PETA website)

Secret? Only yesterday on the tv news, there was a section dealing with the elephants to be brought to Taronga. Nothing secretive at all, not that that makes it right.

thailand has an even poorer record of caring for elephants..

"... elephants were most likely subject to a traditional Thai breaking ritual, during which baby elephants are bound with ropes, dragged from their mothers, immobilised in wooden cages, and beaten for days with nail-studded sticks in order to break their spirits. ..."

best get them out of Thailand then
hope they can swim ;>)

I'm not going to pretend that I know a LOT about this issue... but it seems to me to be a bit of a 'lesser of two evils' thing.

If the elephants weren't coming to Australia, would they be kept in a zoo in Thailand? Where would the elephants be better off?

In the long run, in theory, I agree that money would be better spent on protecting habitat etc of wild elephants... but doing that right now clearly won't change the fate of these elephants. Whilst related, in that the issues are both about elephants, I see them as being distinct issues that warrant seperate attention.  

As I said though, I don't know much about it... I'd be interested to learn. I'm concerned about the impact of any knee-jerk reactions that I might have to write letters etc, if I don't fully understand the implications behind it. I like to know what I'm really fighting for.