Asian elephant populations in Laos, which are under a process of commodification, have dropped by half in the last 30 years. According to researchers from CNRS and the French Beauval Nature association for conservation and research, the dynamics of elephant populations depend heavily on the socio-economic practices of the country and elephant owners. The setting-up of a “maternity-leave” system to compensate owners for their losses of income during breeding period would contribute to the species’ long-term survival. The findings of this research are published in Scientific Reports on November 1st 2017.