Wildlife Conservation Thailand Project #50701

Elephant Welfare & Sustainable Income In Thailand

by GVI Charitable Programs

Project Report | Feb 22, 2024
Expanded support for mahouts

By Jonathan Berry | Project Manager

Thanks for your ongoing support for our Elephant project in Thailand.

Through your support we have been able to increase the support that each of our mahouts and elephants are receiving each month.

Over the past couple of months we have added two new elephants to our project. Punoy and Dambo are now also funded with the help of your donations. This means we have been able to allow their mahouts to return and work at home in their village and be with their families.

The mahouts are also benefiting from English classes delivered by project staff. This improves their job opportunities and allows them to work with tourists in the local area. Added income via donations has also helped us match the standard tourism income for many of the elephants owners and mahouts.

Your support is so appreciated in continuing and expanding this project.

We thank you for your ongoing support and look forward to keeping you updates on the progress of the herd.

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Oct 9, 2023
Fundraiser supports work of Mahouts

By Jonathan Berry | Project Manager

Jun 12, 2023
Fundraising support leads to change

By Jonathan Berry | Project Leader

Thank you for your ongoing support for this project. Your donations are much appreciated.

Over the past few months, we have worked hard to guarantee more elephants are getting an income. In March we ran a fundraiser in which we walked to the nearby town Mae Chaem. The walk was 57km away and our team performed amazingly. Over the course of the fundraiser we raised Up to £1000. This amount has helped support mahouts and elephants throughout the project.

We have started to see more elephants, such as Bundee, Boon Choo and Nong May. With the increased number visitors to the program it means we can go to see more elephants in the forest so more income has been generated to the mahouts and the elephants are getting more time to roam in the forest.

All of the elephants under our care a doing phenomenally. They’re all showing reduced stereotypy signs in their behavioural data and their health checks are showing healthy scores across the board and we have seen a healthy uptake of mahouts using ethical methods. The mahouts are now favouring more positive reinforcement methods such as reward based methods. For example if the elephants follow the mahouts to water and food sources they are given a small piece of fruit.

We know everyone likes to hear updates about baby Lah Lah. We are excited to report she now has her own mahout Boon Towie, and she is well adapted to life as a semi-wild elephant. Future plans will include pairing her with her sister in the forest Lulu. We'll keep you updated on the progess!

Your donations have meant we can support our former mahout Joe with income after the untimely death of his male elephant DeeDee and the money has gone towards adding a new elephant to the project, Rambo. We want to see Dee Dees legacy lived on through Rambo being added to the project.

We thank you again for your support of this project. Your donations mean valuable educational opportunities and resources to support the community.

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