In Thailand, the world's most popular destination for elephant tourism, guests at Elephant Nature Park stay overnight in huts, their beds encircled by mosquito netting. As the sun rises, they peek outside, glimpsing a majestic elephant herd rumbling by.
Mountainous and dotted by waterfalls and Buddhist temples, the natural paradise of the Mae Taeng district in Chiang Mai, Thailand, provides a natural environment for the more than 120 elephants that inhabit Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary for mistreated animals.
Vancouver Lawyer turned philanthropist Katrina Sriranpong feels an affinity with Thailand despite living with her family in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her parents emigrated from Thailand to Canada, and early in her career, she was the only Thai-speaking immigration lawyer in Vancouver. She considers Elephant Nature Park as one of her favourite non-profit organizations in which she supports.
"Thailand has a dark truth regarding its treatment of elephants. Elephants are usually taken from the wild as calves. Due to the close familial bond and instinct to protect their young, the whole herd is usually slaughtered to steal just one baby elephant. The calf is then tortured for several weeks as it is believed to break its spirit and become loyal to the new human owner," says Katrina Sriranpong. She further explains, "Unfortunately, international tourists unknowingly fuel this abuse by financially supporting elephant shows and rides. Many do not realize the torture that domestic elephants endure to become subservient."
Since leaving a fast-paced legal career, Sriranpong has consistently supported non-profit organizations in Canada and abroad that aim to provide support and awareness for refugees, animals and their habitats as well as organizations focused on fighting human trafficking. She also financially supports various child-centric non-profit organizations, including UNICEF, Save the Children, War Child, the New Hope Foundation, and Operation Underground Railroad.
"I am a big believer that change can only move at the speed of empathy," Sriranpong says. "We all have the power to be philanthropists, whether by donating time, valuable skills, or money."
The Small Woman Who Saves Earth's Largest Land Mammals
Elephant Nature Park located in northern Thailand is a non-profit organization that rescues elephants from exploitation and provides rehabilitation to injured elephants. Sriranpong and her husband visited the sanctuary and witnessed these beautiful creatures roaming freely for acres without chains. They fell in love with the sanctuary and decided to financially support the organization and its cause.
The elephants enchanted many supporters before Katrina Sriranpong, and some admirers are drawn to volunteer at Elephant Nature Park. They can choose a weeklong "voluntourism" stay during which they can witness the shy nature of elephants, the largest land mammals in the world.
Ironically, a small woman - Ms. Sangduen "Lek" Chailert - founded Elephant Nature Park in 1995 for these beautiful large creatures. "Lek" is a Thai nickname for a diminutive person such as Chailert, who appears childlike among the behemoths at the Elephant Nature Park.
A native of northern Thailand, Chailert is a longtime advocate of pachyderm conservation. In Thailand, she is known as the "elephant whisperer' and has advocated against activities that force these gentle giants into servitude. "Tourists want to see the elephants painting and doing lots of things, especially riding," Chailert told Time magazine, noting that "tourism work is actually the most disturbing to the elephant" as "when logging, they only work for part of the year."
At the Elephant Nature Park, guests and volunteers can watch rescued elephants play in custom-built pools, mud pits, and a nearby river. Those who enlist for sleepovers amid a thriving herd have the opportunity to witness the magic of elephants living in their natural habitat.
Exploitation of Elephants
Thailand banned logging in 1989, putting the last of the country's domesticated elephants out of work - even if the work was hard - and making them dependent on humans for survival.
After 1989, tens of thousands of domesticated elephants could no longer log to pay for food. Elephants are expensive to feed considering they eat 10 tonnes of food every day, which forced the elephant handlers into the entertainment industry. Handlers tortured elephants training them to perform circus-style tricks for tourists or carrying tourists on their backs. "Captive elephants in Thailand are often exploited for financial gain and depend heavily on tourism for funding. Captive elephants may be forced to provide rides for visitors, play soccer for spectators, or other tricks to generate income," says Katrina Sriranpong.
Sriranpong further explains, "Tourists, usually from abroad, spend a significant amount of money to ride these beautiful creatures and the demand fuels the capture of more elephants from the wild, which perpetuates a cruel form of entertainment where the animals are tortured and abused for financial gain."
Unfortunately, elephants were not designed to haul heavy loads on their backs. Travelife for Tour Operators, an Amsterdam-based ratings provider for travel agents, documents elephant care and stated that elephants should carry no more than 10% of their body weight. Elephants also require a natural setting to traverse, one that is soft on their feet such as soil - not the hard concrete streets of the cities in Thailand. Concrete floors are damaging to their feet and legs, which causes extreme pain.
Further complicating matters, it is not in an elephant's nature to submit to such human interactions. As such, to "break" the animals physically and mentally, traffickers steal elephant babies from their mothers and force them into a devastating training process called "the crush."
During this brutal process, elephant trainers called "mahouts" restrain the animals, beat them, and withhold their food and water. The treatment renders them subservient for the lucrative industry of elephant rides and performances.
The Movement to Stop Thailand's Elephant Rides
The campaigning group World Animal Protection (WAP) estimates that before Covid elephants generated approximately $770 million a year for Thailand. As tales of elephant abuse erupted in the international news throughout the past decade, the Tourism Authority of Thailand distanced itself from elephant rides. Some tour groups in Europe and North America no longer organize trips at elephant camps which include riding. However, there is concern that when tourists start traveling to Thailand again from countries such as China, Russia, and India it will fuel elephant rides and entertainment shows, which are often included in their package tours.
Chailert has pioneered ethical elephant tourism with the opening of Elephant Nature Park, which serves as a refuge for animals and also allows tourists and elephants to interact. In contrast to the horrific means of traditional training and handling, Elephant Nature Park manages its herd via positive reinforcement. The park educates area mahouts about alternative methods of making money that can replace elephant rides. Elephant Nature Park also helps preserve the local Thai culture by purchasing food from area farmers and employs locals in positions such as wildlife rangers.
Children who visit the sanctuary bear witness to elephants' majesty in their natural environment, learning empathy along the way. Katrina Sriranpong, who has two young children, believes such education is critical to nurturing a social conscience in the next generation.
If you are interested in helping Elephant Nature Park, please donate to Save Elephant Foundation. The Foundation aims to become a leader in the field of Asian elephant research through academic outreach and education programs. Save Elephant Foundation has projects in Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar.
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