The main factor influencing Thai elephants is human encroachment upon their habitat - the fast growing human population in Asia competes with the wildlife for land and resources and wild elephants pose a threat to farmers’ crops leading to confrontation. Additionally, because it takes a long time (14 years) to raise an elephant to working age, it is more efficient to capture older elephants from the wild than it is to breed in captivity. These and a number of other factors have led to a shocking decline in elephant populations. Around 4,000 elephants remain in Thailand, fewer than 1,500 in the wild and maybe 300 living in the cities in appalling conditions. Many elephants often suffer brutal treatment, firstly to train them and then because their owners are too poor and lacking in knowledge of these magnificent animals to give them proper care.