Caring for Cambodia's elephants during Covid

As we look to enter a new year, we are eternally grateful for the support of our community.  The end of 2023, and the start of 2024, brought many hardships to our team, especially as we sought to recover from the financial impacts of the Covid Pandemic.  However, just like our rescued elephants, our team is resilient! We continue to strive to do our best to care for the elephants, the forest, and the community.  We could not do this work without your support, and we look forward to continuing to share our efforts as we move into a new year!

Holiday Raffle and Giving Tuesday!

Donate Today and win a chance to visit us here in the jungle as part of our Holiday Raffle!

Every donation from now until the 24 Dec goes into the draw. Get your donations in now and the winner will be drawn on Christmas day!

You can also donate on behalf of a loved one or as a present for someone this festive season and give them the chance to win this fabulous prize. We can issue gift certificates, which make great presents!

Donations of $20-50 – receive 1 entry
Donations of $50-$100 – receive 2 entries
For every $100 that you donate above this you get an additional entry into the draw!

Note, if you are donating on behalf of someone else for a present, please let us know in the message field when you donate.

HOLD THAT DATE! Bonus Day on #GivingTuesday

Donate on Tue 3rd December and make your donation go further!

GlobalGiving has $1 million USD in funding available as a bonus incentive fund this year for #GivingTuesday. There’s never been a better time to give. All donations logged during the 24hrs on 3rd December on our page on GlobalGiving will count towards ELIE & EVP’s share of incentive fund. The more you give, the larger share ELIE & the EVP will receive!

The Raffle will then be open all the way up until Christmas eve, Dec 24th.

Update August through November 2024 

We had originally opened a project on GlobalGiving to get us through the crisis of the Covid pandemic.  Though many people have moved past the pandemic, we are still feeling the financial effects and are looking forward to rebuilding and recovery. For this, we continue to rely on your support. Unfortunately, tourism in Cambodia has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Your support allows us to continue our efforts for the elephants, as well as the indigenous Bunong community who rely on the forest they share alongside the elephants.

Elephant Conservation Program

• Mobile Vet Team Project
• Due to funding restrictions, and the priority care needs of the resident EVP elephants, our mobile vet team has been staying close to site. We continue to be available for emergencies if anyone in the province should require a need for their elephant. Thankfully, due to the relationships that the mobile vet team have built up over the years, we are confident that local elephant owners feel comfortable to contact us if their elephant is sick or has an injury. In the meantime, our on-site vet assistant continues to support the daily, ongoing care of our seven resident elephants.
• This quarter the team has been working closely with the government as they are starting to officially register the elephants of Cambodia with microchips and official government registration. This will help to combat illegal sales and trans-border trafficking. ELIE is supporting the government with our connections and relationships with the captive elephant owners, and have already microchipped the 4 rescue elephants at EVP to start with.
  
  
  

• Captive Elephant Care & Rehabilitation @ the Elephant Valley Project
• We are happy to report that Pearl continues to be doing well from her leg injury.  Though the team continue to provide a daily treatment regime to her leg, as well as to the abscess that developed due to prolonged antibiotic injections, Pearl tolerates the treatments well, and we see daily improvements. Though the recovery continues to be a slow, and ongoing recovery, we are thankful that her recovery is moving in a positive direction.    
• In June we did a call out for helping to fund Ruby’s eye medications, when we noticed the condition of her eye began to deteriorate from cataract to now a condition called glaucoma. Unfortunately, we cannot reverse the glaucoma, but with medication we can help to relieve the pressure, and the pain. We are happy to report that she is still moving around through the forest, as confidently as ever. 
• In September, we decided that both Ruby and Pearl were in stable enough health that we could attempt to reunite these girls, after being apart for many years. Ruby has been alone since the death of Sambo last year. Pearl has been separated from her herd mates since her injury, and alone since the death of Diamond. At the first introduction, Pearl was quite interested in Ruby, smelling in her direction. However, Ruby did not share the same interest and backed out of the area quickly! After a few days of staying in the same area, it was Ruby that began to show interest in Pearl, and Pearl became the one that turned in the opposite direction of Ruby! Fearing that Pearl might put too much stress on her recovering leg if she were to move too quickly away from Ruby, the mahouts have stepped in to make sure the interactions stay positive, and that each elephant has the space they need to feel comfortable as these two ladies re-establish their friendship.   
• Over the summer months, when the team noticed that Ning Wan was digesting even less of her food then normal, a change was made to her diet. Now, with increased supplements of soft food, cutting the rinds off watermelons and other fruits, and adding probiotics, we have noticed Ning Wan’s energy returning.  We are happy to report this old grandma is as feisty as ever! She is even spending some of her days with Ruby and Pearl, though she seems more interested in finding tasty forest fruits rather than socializing. 
• In October, Gee Chreng’s family asked for Gee Chreng to join Doe and Darling in Heaven Valley for a few months, so she may have a chance to eat the fresh bamboo leaves that are more abundant than in the Northern valleys.  At first there was a lot of excitement between Doe, Darling, and Gee Chreng, with lots of vocalizations and trunk touching. However, the novelty soon wore off, and now Darling is unsure if she wants to share her friendship with Doe, pushing Gee Chreng away. It seems it's not a fit.
• In October, Hen’s mahouts noticed a small cut on Hen’s face. After inspection, the mahouts determined that a thorn must have lodged itself in his skin, as it was slowly becoming more and more swollen. After treating the swelling with a hot water compress, we were finally able to bring the swelling down, and expel the build up of pus that had been causing an abscess. The relationship that Hen and his mahouts have is evident in situations like this. Hen remained very calm, as his team fed him lots of pumpkins and bananas so they could provide his treatment, and provide him some relief.
  
  

• Natural Resource Protection Project
• The team took advantage of the last months of the rainy season, September and October, to plant a large number of endangered tree species in the community land that surrounds the EVP.  We want to thank all of our staff, day guests, overnight guests, week long volunteers, and community members that took part in our reforestation efforts!   

Ecotourism Program - Elephant Valley Project
By supporting the elephants and their forest home, we can also support education to visitors, volunteers and school groups to the EVP.

• Ele Education Days
• Over three weeks in August and September the team completed four very fun, educational, and successful Elephant Education Days! A total of 96 grade 5 and grade 6 students and 6 teachers, all from the 3 local primary schools of Putrom village participated. The days consisted of hiking out in the forest to observe our resident elephants Doe, Darling, and Ruby. Students learned their histories, general elephant facts, and interacted with the mahouts to learn about daily care for the elephants. While immersed in the forest, the students also looked for other plants and wildlife along the way. Afternoon lessons at our basecamp education center consisted of discussions about protecting the forest for elephants and wildlife, and an interactive nature scavenger hunt! We are incredibly thankful to our partner, Share the Wonder, for providing the funds for this Elephant Education Day program to inspire a continued appreciation for elephants and nature conservation.
• Hosting Groups
• While we are extremely lucky to welcome some awesome guests and tourists to EVP, we were really lucky to have two very amazing groups stay with us. In August we were host to an awesome group of young Girl Guides from the UK. The group was positive, engaged, hardworking, loved learning about the elephants, and was committed to helping out during volunteer projects.  This was the group’s first overseas trip, and we would love to see this group return!  In October, we once again hosted students from The School for Field Studies.  This was another excellent group of young people, engaged in learning, and continuing forward with the knowledge learned to work towards human and wildlife conservation solutions!

Community Support Program

• Land Compensation – Rice Distribution
• Each month the EVP compensates the community for the elephants to use their forest. We make these payments in rice. Rice is a staple for families, and monthly rice donations help to ensure that families have enough food during times of unexpected food shortages. It’s only with the community’s support that we can also work to protect elephants and their forests. Your donation to EVP not only helps us to care for the retirement of our resident elephants, but you also help to support 78 families that get direct benefits and incentives to protect their community forest for these elephants to live in. Thank you for your support!
• Health Care Support Project
• These past few months have been busy, utilizing the vehicles for multiple hospital runs. Unfortunately, there were some suspected dengue cases amongst several members of the community. While the illnesses were severe, we are happy that everyone is now recovering. We also welcomed several new community members to the village with several expecting mothers utilizing the EVP/ELIE vehicles to access medical service in town upon the end of their pregnancies. This vital service to the community benefits the entire community, whether they work for the project or not. While emergency medical situations can be time consuming and exhausting to our staff, it is so rewarding when we remember that it could save a life, or when we get to meet a new baby!
• School Support Project
• On Hold - no funds. 
• Community Development Project
• On Hold - no funds 

Links:

• http://www.elephantvalleyproject.org

During the past year, your support has helped so much. It feels like we have just shared sad news this past while, and this update also has some very heartbreaking updates, but there is no way we would have gotten through probably the saddest 6 months in our history without you.

We also have some fun things coming up, like WORLD ELEPHANT DAY. Read on to learn how you can get involved.

World Elephant Day - 12th August 2024

Do you like challenges? Do you like Yoga? Do you want to help us raise funds for the EVP elephants?

To celebrate World Elephant Day this year, Mon 12th Aug, we are launching the Yoga4Ele’s Sun Salutation Challenge. We have seen some really hard times these last few months, and years, at EVP and we need your help to get through the low season.

The Challenge

The practice of yoga is a journey of self-discovery, leading to physical strength, mental clarity, and spiritual growth. All things we have needed alot of lately. We are challenging you to gather your friends, gather your yoga buddies at your studio, gather your community together and CHALLENGE yourself to complete as many sun salutations as you can. Do the challenge yourself or make an event out of it and ask everyone to make a donation to help the elephants here at EVP this World Elephant Day.

For full information, see the website and join the challenge https://elephantvalleyproject.org/world-ele-day-2024/

The last remaining elephants of Cambodia need you! 

So mark your calendars, get stretching, and get ready to do yoga 4 elephants!

Update April to July 2024 

We had originally opened a project on GlobalGiving to get us through the crisis of the covid pandemic.  Though many people have moved past the pandemic, we are still feeling its effects and are looking forward to rebuilding and recovery. For this we continue to rely on your support. Unfortunately tourism in Cambodia has yet to recover to pre pandemic levels. Your support allows us to continue our efforts for the elephants, as well as the indigenous community who rely on the forest they share alongside the elephants.

Elephant Conservation Program

• Mobile Vet Team Project
• Due to funding restrictions, and the priority care needs of the resident EVP elephants, our mobile vet team has been staying close to site. We continue to be available for emergencies if anyone in the province should require a need for their elephant. Thankfully, due to the relationships that the mobile vet team have built up over the years, we are confident that local elephant owners feel comfortable to contact us if their elephant is sick or has an injury. In May we were contacted by WCS and  the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary rangers, as an adult wild bull elephant was observed with an injured leg. The elephant was observed to be limping, but mobile enough to forage and find water. ELIE was able to donate some medicine that the rangers could hide in some food and hope the elephant would find and eat. The last reports were that the elephant seemed to be doing well, again exemplifying the resiliency of these animals.  

• Captive Elephant Care & Rehabilitation @ the Elephant Valley Project
• The last few months of 2023 and the first few months of 2024 were busy, emotional and tough, as we dealt with the passing of three of our elderly, much loved, elephants. While it is never easy to say goodbye, their passing was expected, and we all took comfort in knowing that they enjoyed their retirement years in the forests of EVP.  While we processed the death of our old girls, it was then a complete shock to the entire team when our 2-year-old calf, Diamond, unexpectedly passed away in the last days of March.  We noticed Diamond was not herself in the morning, just a little out of sorts. By the afternoon she was lethargic, went off her food, and then started to have swelling around her face and body. The mahouts came back from the forest and sent the information to our vet care group. We hoped it was just a wasp sting, or she was feeling unwell. But due to the swelling around the face, we quickly actioned our EEHV (Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes Virus) plan. We rushed out medicines from town, and the mahouts and vet assistants went out to try and administer treatment. However, after a short battle, Diamond succumbed, and passed away very quickly, by 10pm that evening. Due to the rapid onset of symptoms and swelling, our vet team here in Cambodia and International consultants, suspected it was EEHV. Collaborating with government veterinarians, we followed international procedure and underwent a necropsy to find out more information. The results confirmed that it was indeed EEHV.  This disease has been found in both the wild and captive populations of both African and Asian elephants.  It continues to be a devastating disease for the elephant populations, and we are so thankful for all the various organizations working to find a cure. If you would like to know more about EEHV you can find more info here: https://eehvinfo.org/
  
  
• After the passing of Diamond, the team was worried and anxious to see if Pearl, already in a compromised position due to her leg injury, would suffer further from stress or depression. Thus, it was such a relief when Pearl continued to eat and drink as normal, and her leg injury seemed to be improving. Every day we see small progress as she continues gaining weight, walking better, and growing stronger.  While we still continue a daily treatment regime of cleaning her leg and applying and administering medications, we are so thankful to see her recovery moving in the right direction.  We continue to thank our veterinarian consultant Dr, Trish, and Dr. Martina from Animal Doctors International and IDSARA, who have been extremely generous in their support of Pearl’s recovery.  As well as all of our GlobalGiving Supporters that ensure we can continue to provide whatever care is needed for Pearl.
  
  
• In June we started to observe Ruby’s right eye deteriorate further from cataracts, to now a painful condition called glaucoma. In the first few days she showed us that she was quite uncomfortable and in pain, frequently rubbing at her eye, scratching her face on trees, and shedding quite a lot of liquid from the eye. Luckily Dr. Trish was on site and was able to assess the condition of the eye quickly to determine the change we were seeing. Sadly we cannot do much for her eye other than offer her pain relief, and eye drops to relieve the pressure. Your continued support allows us to ensure we can obtain the necessary medications to keep Ruby comfortable during this time.
  
  
• Our lovely elephant Ning Wan, over the last several years, has required lots of additional supplements as her teeth have become worn down as a symptom of old age. However, in recent weeks we noticed her having some belly discomfort. This indicated to us that she was needing further assistance with her supplements. We have since increased her supplements to include additional cooked rice, and the mahouts now remove the banana peels and cut away the outside of the watermelon.  We have also included additional probiotics to aid in her digestion and gut health. Thank you so much for helping us to provide these additional supplements to our aging granny, so she can continue to enjoy her retirement alongside her best friend Gee Chrang. 

• Natural Resource Protection Project 
• As part of the Ministry of Environment’s “Green Sprouts” program, we were able to take part in their tree distribution and receive 100 Beng seedlings and 145 Kakah seedlings.  Both of these species are considered luxury timber trees and thus the reason for them now being considered an endangered tree species. As the land that we utilize for EVP is owned by the community, we have started planting these seedlings with the land owners, so that the forests and all of its inhabitants can benefit.  We were very happy to take part in this effort to combat deforestation and to help build a greener Cambodia. 

Ecotourism Program - Elephant Valley Project

• April and May historically tend to be quieter months for tourism as they are two of the hottest months in Cambodia. e were thankful for our long term volunteers that were available to help with some projects to keep up our projects around the site during those quieter months. 
• In June, we were once again happy to host the students from The School for Field Studies, Elephants of South East Asia Course.  10 students spend the week experiencing the forest, learning the role elephants play in the Bunong culture, conducting behavioral observations of elephant social behavior and foraging, learning about elephant health and welfare, and completing line-transect surveys.  They also participated in lectures and completed lab sampling techniques.  We are so happy to continue this partnership so that we can continue to educate and inspire Asian elephant conservation

Community Support Program

• Land Compensation – Rice Distribution
• Each month the EVP compensates the community for the elephants to use their forest.  We make these payments in rice.  Rice is a staple for families, and monthly rice donations help to ensure that families have enough food during times of unexpected food shortages.  It’s only with the community’s support that we can also work to protect elephants and their forests.  Your donation to EVP not only helps us to care for the retirement of our resident elephants, but you also help to support 78 families that get direct benefits and incentives to protect their community forest for these elephants to live in.  Thank you for your support!
• Health Care Support Project
• We continue to offer emergency hospital transport to anyone in the village.  
• School Support Project
• On Hold - no funds. 
• Community Development Project
• On Hold - no funds.

Links:

• http://www.elephantvalleyproject.org