Elephant Nature Park is an elephant rescue and rehabilitation center in Northern Thailand where you can volunteer and visit to help. We have been involved in dozens of rescues to create our thriving elephant herd. The park provides a natural environment for elephants and other animals under our care. Volunteers and visitors contribute to the healing while learning about their lives past and present.

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/index.htm

New rescue - 30 August 2011:

Pang Pornsawan an elephant land mine victim

On 23 August about 3 pm a few minutes after mahout let elephant roam free he heard a deafening bang and the elephant roaring and screaming. He ran to the area to see his elephant which had collapesed from the shock of the her injuries. She was bleeding and the blood run out from her feet and they tried to help but the elephant was in an extreme state of panic. It took time to control the situation and only then could the see the deep injuries through to her bones.

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/news/110805n01.htm

Warning - distressing photos.

Warning - distressing photos.


Pang Pornsawan's rescue in pictures

http://bit.ly/nie6Mq

http://fb.me/1buQXetYx

Chitty Chitty Yim Yim

Let’s start at the end, and a little elephant who could, named Mae Perm – who many of you will already know as Lek’s first rescued elephant, and the close friend and constant companion of the blind Jokia. Mae Perm and Jokia are the first elephants to take the new training wall at the back of the park for a test drive. When I say Mae Perm and Jokia, what I really mean is Mae Perm, because Jokia – who is the third blind elephant in the training, after Jaruni and Mae Kam Puan – started the first day very hesitantly taking bananas from my hands while I simply clicked my clicker (wanting to start very slowly) and ended it by walking away mid click: The second day went the same way, but with the walking away part coming much earlier in the proceedings, leading me to the very thoughtful conclusion that the strong smell of something dead nearby (and on numerous of the dogs who had accompanied me; dogs who that night would be sleeping on my floor) was upsetting her; but when day three and day four resulted in her refusing to even take bananas from me, I had to change my conclusion – especially now that the offending scent of decomposition had decomposed itself out – to the possibility that the clicker itself was actually upsetting her.

http://elephantdreaming.wordpress.com/2011...chitty-yim-yim/

From ENP Facebook page ...

Sai Rung has been ill lately, unable to stand. We were very concerned. She has been accepting food and it eating fairly well and has now been able to stand with our assistance. She is still on a drip and a support frame has been assembled to help her stand.

http://elephantnaturepark.org/herd/sairung.htm

4 photos posted by ENP of Sai Rung, who has limited vision - to keep her in our thoughts.

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/news/110912n01_gal.htm

Speaking for the Elephants … in memory of Mae Sai Roong

One from the Elephant Nature Park & Foundation page stating Mae Sai Roong, an elephant our volunteer group had taken care of when she fell ill on Sept. 10, had taken a turn for the worst. Then, an update time stamped about five hours later from one of the staff with the words that made my cry aloud — “Dear Sai Roong, RIP.”

Mae Sai Roong had only been at the park for a little more than four months. An older girl, she spent her life at elephant camps treating passengers to tick marks on their bucket lists by taking them for treks on her back. A little more than a year ago, when she got a new owner, he realized the old girl couldn’t trek any longer. The owner, along with members of Elephant Nature Park,walked her the short distance from her current camp to her new home, the park. The walk took her three hours because, after years of trekking for tourists, it was her movements were so labored.

http://www.dtravelsround.com/site/2011/09/...-mae-sai-roong/

A wonderful article on Sai Roong and the long-term effects of the crush training, logging, and ele abuse. She spent the last four months of her life cared for and loved. The photo of the volunteers attending to her are bittersweet. I'm sure she was aware of them and of their kind intent. RIP, sweet girl.

"The fact that I had ever considered riding an elephant suddenly made me sick."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-edelma...69.html#s376421

Thank you so much for posting this, Ellie.

As part of our ongoing correspondence with our "sustainable tourism" contact at the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) in London, we will be sending him a link to this article. We have been in discussion with him for over a year on the subject of "Elephant-oriented Tourism in Thailand", and every bit of media info gets onto his desk.

The "Pause for Thought" we have chosen for this week's Elephant News Summary is a quote re a trekking accident in Phuket, Thailand:
PAUSE FOR THOUGHT:
“Think a thousand times before you go on an elephant,” Mr Perepelitsyn said.
Asked if she would consider getting back on an elephant, Mrs Meia smiled and said, “Never”. Comments after this couple were both injured when the female elephant they were riding (“Pancake”) in Phuket, Thailand, was attacked by a bull elephant (“Captain”) used by the same trekking company.

The news report from which the quote is taken can be found on our World Forum.

I was thrilled to hear that this article could be helpful in your efforts to educate the ABTA. Let's hope it will make a difference for the elephants still being forced to work in the trekking business.

ENP welcomes visit from Dr. Susan Mikota and Dr. Khyne U Mar World renowned elephant veterinarians

Dr. Susan Mikota and Dr. Khyne U Mar paid a visit to ENP after attending an elephant conference that was held in Bangkok. The pair stayed at the park for 2 1/2 days, observing our elephants, giving advice on care and treatment of injuries and sharing their vast library of pdf files pertaining to elephant research including healthcare, diseases, musth, ovulation, management and conservation efforts. Dr. Mikota is an author and co-editor of Biology, Medicine and Surgery of Elephants (Blackwell 2006) and co-author of Medical Management of the Elephant (Indira Publishing 1994). She has been actively engaged in elephant care, research and conservation for 15 years and is co-founder of Elephant Care International (http://www.elephantcare.org). Dr. Mikota is the Director of Veterinary Programs and Research and is a consulting veterinarian at the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald Tennessee.

http://www.elephantnaturefoundation.org/go/news

October issue of MORE Magazine ...

Big Love: My Adventure with Elephants in Thailand

ENP’s philosophy is markedly different from that of other vacation-destination elephant camps dotting the surrounding Mae Taeng Valley. Beyond making themselves available to be fed and bathed, elephants here provide no services, no entertainment. There is no watching them paint or do tricks, no swimming with or riding on them, no pretending to be their mahout (keeper) for a day.

http://www.more.com/volunteer-vacation-tha...d-elephant-camp

Underground Elephant Partners with the Elephant Nature Foundation

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/452395#ixzz1afCuid7O

Mae Geao - still going strong

Almost one year ago, we thought we were going to lose Mae Geao. She is in the top five of our oldest elephants here and because of her worn out teeth, last October she was having digestive problems, which ended up causing an intestinal �blockage. Mae Geao did not poop for 19 days and during that time, she did not eat much which led to weight loss and weakness.

http://www.elephantnaturefoundation.org/go/news

A message from our Founder

We are Ok and thankfully dry in Northern Thailand. This year is a horrible one for floods. Every where there has been flooding; even the night bazaar in the city was submerged under water. At the park our strong river wall saved us and kept us safe this year.

So much damage has been done to our forests with trees cut down and burned. Today mother-earth takes back, so it is hard to complain about the consequences.

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/news/111015n01.htm

The Elephant Nature Park is happy to be working with the Cambodian Wildlife Sanctuary [�http://www.cambodiawildlifesanctuary.com/ ] to assist in developing a natural space for many elephants about 1 hour north of Siem Reap. Our initial project will begin with an extensive�tree nursery program, and�it will be open to�international volunteers who share a passion to plant trees. We will employ�a lot of people�from the local community to help with the work, and, though challenging,�we anticipate many good things as we try to create a space also for them. We have an office in Siem Reap, and we hired a local crew of 15 who have already begun to construct an on-site manager's building and storage facility, as well as the shade covers necessary for the seedling nursery [volunteer facilities to follow].

http://www.elephantnaturefoundation.org/go/news

Sangduen "Lek" Chailert and ENP feature in Jim Goodman's blog:

http://www.ezistock.com/blog/2011/12/02/a-...ant-experience/

Jumbo ambulance saves elephants

(CNN) -- Sangduen "Lek" Chailert is known as Thailand's elephant queen.

For over a decade she has been working tirelessly to save abused elephants after seeing first-hand the mistreatment many of them faced while working in the timber industry.

"When I first saw elephants pulling logs in the jungle it changed my life," she said.

"As it pulled the chain to move the logs it cut deep in to his skin... I saw the look in his eye and the pain he was in.


http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/27/world/asia/e...ml#conservation

From ENP Facebook page:

MESSAGE FROM LEK 12/12/11 15:48 GMT: (Please read Below)

Dear Elephant's friend and supporter
The street begging elephant are still carrying on in Thailand . It have no more in Chiang Mai after our volunteer help to sign petition and protest in Chiang Mai this year in May , but many city of Thailand the local government still allow the owner to take the elephant walk to make money. During the flood, we are busy working to rescued the dogs and cats from water, but sometime in the midnight during our way back to the shelter we found the elephant walk in the middle of Bangkok mahout still take them to walk for money. If the tourist support to pay the mahout, the more mahout make money , the more baby elephant will be suffer and risky their life in the street . Please see the Video below .
The baby elephant get hit by car at Roi Et province during his mahout have take him to walk begging in the street at night , he is in crisis condition now . I will give you more update soon. Also please help us to sign petition online and help to stop the mahout to used the baby elephant to make money on street begging and the Elephant law in Thailand must be issue to protect them.

http://77.nationchannel.com/video/189389/

Giant steps: Vacationing in Thailand

The Elephant Nature Park offers sanctuary and a calmer life, and its founders are hoping to show Thailand that there is another way to treat elephants. They believe that tourists will come to Thailand to see elephants in a more natural setting.

http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_prev...20in%20Thailand

Pang Pornsawan is currently being treated at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center elephant hospital.

Pang Pornsawan - December 16, 2012

There is no way yet, that this gal can put any weight at all on her left rear foot. She’s compensating. To walk she puts her two front feet slightly ahead of body then hops forward with her right rear. She may never win an elephant race, but she will survive and once released from hospital she’ll have the opportunity to spend the rest of her life in sanctuary with other elephants at the Elephant Nature Park. There she will meet two other land mine victims, but that’s a story for the future.

http://www.asianelephantstories.blogspot.c...er-16-2012.html

Marley Seaman spent a week at Elephant Nature Park:

Thailand: Holidaying with Chiang Mai's elephants

But thinking about one's experiences here at the end of a long day is very different from reflecting on the typical vacation.

After all, we were not just tourists. We were visitors in the land of the elephants.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/arti...jectid=10775067

This blog explains recent government activity at our park. Apart from the disruption caused by malicious and...
http://fb.me/1f8yfDV8m

This page updated Feb. 25th. Can be copy & pasted; links shortened.

A/o Feb 22 petition has been reopened. Please sign the petition if you haven't already. Lek & Edwin desperately need our support.
Tweet/share petition short link: http://tiny.cc/thairaid

See also related posts:
ENP:
http://bit.ly/w2SEXM
EREC/WFFT:
http://bit.ly/wnUb31

The history:
http://bit.ly/xalBg8
http://bit.ly/A2miYm

Follow updates on WFFT FB:
http://tiny.cc/wfftfb

Resource Center:
http://tiny.cc/wfftrc

Edwin & Lek NEED our help to get this to the international press. If anyone can help, please do.

Media of Thailand: http://bit.ly/crK70d

How to Help (link to this post): http://tiny.cc/wffthelp

Short link to copy of this post for tweeting/sharing is: http://bit.ly/zzsNuD

From ENP - links to 2 articles, plus a letter.

Elephant News Roundup
25 Feb 12 A selection of stories about the raids at Elephant Nature Park

Dutchman shines spotlight on Thailand's baby elephant trade

Thai Wildlife Group Raided for Criticizing Elephant Poaching

Raids on Conservations Projects

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/news/ele...t_raid_news.htm

Thanks for updating your post, t&tt.

I see that the target for the petition has been raised to 50,000, and current signatures stand at 36,577.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/urgent-pl...-thai-wildlife/

Elephants for exploitation, Opinion

Although there has been considerable publicity about the raid at Edwin Wiek's animal sanctuary by the National Parks Department, there has been less publicity about their raid at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai.

Why is it that with all the atrocities being committed against elephants in Thailand, the government only raids places that treat elephants kindly? Is it because the Thai government can't tolerate the fact that somewhere, somehow, there might be a baby elephant in Thailand that isn't being tortured? At this point I honestly can't think of any other possible explanation. -- Eric Bahrt, Pattaya

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/El...n-30176659.html

This same opinion piece was also posted in the Bangkok Post http://bit.ly/yBHAum

Update from Karl Cullen about protected contact training at ENP:

Waiting for Yim

Some of the more outward changes are things such as changing the bridge we use from a mechanical clicker, to simply the word ‘good’, a word we use already often in encouragement to the elephants, but now will be used as the sloe indicator to the elephant when they have done the correct behaviour. This seems like a good change, partly just because of the fluidity of it, and the more organbic feeling we both prefer, but also on a practical level it avoids simple things such as dropping the clicker, having to reposition it, having it accidentally upside down! or even just forgetting it in your other pants. But more so, down the line, with the local staff here playing a more predominant role in the training, I think it just simplifies things.

We are also looking to change the reward used form diced bananas to sunflower seeds, which they use at Anantara to great effect.

http://elephantdreaming.wordpress.com/2012...aiting-for-yim/

From ENP Facebook page:

** Latest **

An arrest warrant is expected to be served on our founder Sangduen Chailert (Lek) tomorrow - 28 Feb 12. We are now gathering more information and will post it in the next few hours.

Please pass this information on to anyone that you think can help. Your kind and generous support is deeply appreciated.

This is shocking and upsetting news.

Tweet from ENP 6 hrs ago:

"** URGENT ** Elephant Nature Park is expecting more raids on 28 Feb"


Sure looks like govt retaliation for speaking up about abuse in a BIG money-making industry which the govt's economy is deeply invested.

"Elephants are a focus of Thailand's $2 billion tourist industry, which employs more than 2 million people."
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conserva...l#ixzz1nbv9B6E9

Responsible Travel blog

Wildlife At Risk

We just received news today that two popular Wildlife sanctuaries in Thailand are currently being raided by government officials who are acquiring the animals for illegal trade purposes.

According to our sources, the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand, which provides sanctuary to more than 30 elephants and the Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand (WFFT) are being subjected to the Thai government’s actions in retaliation for raising awareness about the government’s illegal trade activities.

http://www.worldfootprints.com/wildlife-at-risk

The whole world is watching! The whole world is watching!

From ENP Twitter ...

The story about the raids at Elephant Nature Park. Please "like" and "share" this story.... http://fb.me/1DShP72we

From above post:

I was told to prepare for arrest as they had seen the warrant issued by the order that the director of DNP (Mr Damrong Pidech) will personally go to Elephant Nature Park to target to arrest Lek.

http://elephantnaturepark.org/news/elephan...d_news_lek1.htm

Damrong was the same one who headed the raid at WFFT. Keep in mind he has retained Chaiwat who has been charged with murder.
Please see prev post:
http://z13.invisionfree.com/Elephant_Comme...ndpost&p=770258

The Players: http://bit.ly/yhjbmf

Recent ENP volunteer/"Bhutanese nomad" blog post.

The Sad and Troubling Story of Thailand's Elephants

Darrick [Lek's husband]...told me that they were close to achieving some basic laws passed for the safety and humane treatment of tamed elephants. If that happens, Darrick told me, Lek will have to go into hiding. Not a surprise given that Lek had already faced threat before. Peta had apparently gotten hold of a video of the "Crushing" that Lek had shown and they called for tourists to boycott Thailand. This outraged the tourist industry and Lek received several threats eventually resulting in the poisoning of one of the baby elephants on her preserve....

I just hope that Lek doesn't get arrested or for that matter harmed. If that were to happen it will not only make the Thai government and the authorities look ridiculous but they would be harming a Thai hero.

http://www.sonamongmo7.com/2012/02/sad-and...-thailands.html

Note this Mar. 1st post from this blogger:
http://z13.invisionfree.com/Elephant_Comme...ndpost&p=783790

Tweet from Edwin 4 hrs ago:

DNP gained access to ENP just now. Staff and volunteers tried to block gate. warrant presented. #ThaiWildlifeRaid other deps not joining DNP

Tweet from Edwin 5 hrs ago:

Surin elephant village to be raided next week. Question is why NGOs first target here? Surin elephant babies moving out now, one week notice

...Thai and international media on site awaiting raid


Breaking News: Thai officials raid Elephant Nature Park
http://www.dtravelsround.com/2012/02/28/thai-wildlife-raid/

Elephant Raids: 28 Feb 12 A message from our founder

27 Feb 12 I received a number of concerned phone calls from the local governor, vet department and police friends who support our work. I was told to prepare for arrest as they had seen the warrant issued by the order that the director of DNP (Mr Damrong Pidech) will personally go to Elephant Nature Park to target to arrest Lek.

They claimed that we have the baby elephants at the park and they claim that they were captured from the wild. We have already sent the hair and blood sample for the DNP to test DNA, but they do not care for this evidence and it has been ignored

Today we expect them to confiscate 8 elephants, including 5 babies. Normally an elephant will not be issued a birth certificate until they are 8 years old and our baby are only 2 years old

We will do whatever possible to protect our elephants. Today I prepare to go to jail but the fight for my animals and justice will never stop.

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/news/ele...d_news_lek1.htm

Update: Today's raid ended with NO confiscations or arrests due to incomplete paperwork and the support of our volunteers, press and legal team. I will post more details of this tomorrow.

Thank you all for your kind support - you have helped to keep us safe

https://www.facebook.com/TheElephantNatureP...151324117765543