the endangered Asian elephants have a new friend in usa . A proposal to spend up to us $25 million to conserve the asian elephants could go a long way towards saving them from extinction. "It is clear that active intervention is necessary,' says Mary Pearl, executive director of the Wildlife Preservation Trust International. Pearl and others who want animal protection and urged for the passage of the Bill, said federal dollars could help attract much needed private funding for a programme to help the mammals.

Two decades ago, Asian elephants, also known as Indian elephants numbered more than 75,000 across south and south-east asia, where they are mostly found. But loss of habitat, capture and other threats have reduced their population to less than 45,000 worldwide.