Help the elephants of Cambodia & EVP post pandemic

During the past year, your support has helped so much. But we need your help to continue ELIE & the Elephants Valley’s mission to support elephants and the local Bunong community. 

Starting Monday 8 April - Friday 12 April, spread the word to your friends, family, and coworkers about GlobalGiving’s Little by Little campaign! Help us help our 8 lovely elephants, because for each new donation made, GlobalGiving is matching all online donations up to $50 at 50%! 

The last remaining elephants of Cambodia need you! During the GlobalGiving Little by Little campaign, celebrate the power of the crowd and make your support go even further!

So mark your calendars today and get ready to spread the word!

Report - Oct 2023 - Mar 2024

We had originally opened a project on GlobalGiving to get us through the crisis of the covid pandemic, but as we are moving out of the critical phase of this pandemic, we are looking forward to rebuilding and recovery. For this we continue to rely on your support, while visitor numbers are still low, to support the elephants and indigenous community who rely on the forest they share.

Elephant Conservation Program

• Mobile Vet Team Project
• These last few months our mobile vet team has continued to be very busy attending to our elephants on site. Unfortunately our amazing elephant mother Pearl, suffered an extremely traumatic leg injury in October, resulting in a rigorous treatment regime, and requiring the daily attention of our vet team.  Due to restricted funding, and the needs of our site elephants, our mobile vet team has been staying close to home these past months.  

• Captive Elephant Care & Rehabilitation @ the Elephant Valley Project
• Following the very sad passing of our beloved Sambo in October, The Elephant Valley Staff has since had two more farewells. To end 2023, we unfortunately said goodbye to our beautiful old elephant Mae Nang. Fondly referred to by the staff as “Grumpy Grandma”, Mae Nang was our oldest resident elephant, at the estimated age of 73. Mae Nang's past was one of hardships, heavy labor, and unkindness. She touched many hearts at the EVP with her tragic story, and she trully epitomized the need for a place such as EVP. Her arrival at EVP in 2011, was the first time she was able to really be an elephant. Through the gentle guidance of her mahouts, as well as observing the other elephants, she learned to explore and forage in the forest, and enjoyed throwing water and mud on herself. Though she never truly became comfortable around many people, she did have a few dedicated mahouts that had earned her trust. We are forever thankful for your donations. With your help we were able to make Mae Nang’s final years in the forest the best years of her life.  
• Mama Pearl unfortunately suffered a major injury that we have been focusing a lot of attention on since October. Poor old Mae Nang, was starting to become quite frail in her final months. Towards the end of October, Mae Nang tripped and fell over a tree. Her fall caused her to vocalize which scared baby Diamond, who took off running. Diamond unfortunately fell into a man made dam/ditch. Pearl, being an excellent and caring mother, responded to her young baby's cries, and unfortunately injured her rear leg in the process. At first we thought she suffered a sprained leg, as her leg just appeared very swollen. But as the weeks went on, her injury worsened, with her hardly putting any weight on the leg at all, and it opened into quite a large wound. We have had all hands on deck, attending to Pearl’s injured leg, and consulting with several vets as to the best course of medications and treatments. We are so thankful for everyone that has offered their assistance as we continue to hope for Pearl’s leg to recover. Your donations allow us to ensure that we can provide whatever is needed for Pearl. Though Pearl’s leg has us quite worried, we are glad to report that Baby Diamond has no injuries, and is happy and energetic as ever.
• Our third, most recent farewell we had to say, at the start of March, was to our beautiful, gentle giant GeeNowl. Though her passing was expected, as she was also showing signs of old age and deteriorating health, it is never easy to say goodbye to a gentle soul.  GeeNowl was a favorite among visitors and staff, as she was one of the first elephants to arrive at the project, in 2007. When she first arrived, she was not the gentle giant she came to be. After some time, she realized that her life at EVP meant no more hard labor. Her stress and nervousness disappeared, and her gentle nature was able to shine through. Her calm demeanor is greatly missed in the EVP forest. In her last months, we were giving her lots of soft supplements, to make it easier on her old, worn down teeth.  Your kind donations allow us to make our elderly residents comfortable in their retirement years.  
• The passing of our elderly residents, and the medical attention required for Pearl, though keeping us busy, has not kept us from ensuring the best care to our other resident elephants. Due to the dry conditions of the hot, dry season, many of the elephants are having dry, itchy skin. Their itching has caused a few cuts and scratches, requiring cleaning and creams, but luckily nothing too serious. The dry season also means the elephants have to travel further during the day to forage. Your continued support allows us to ensure we can provide supplements, and hydrating banana trees, to get our hungry elephants through the dry season.  

• Natural Resource Protection Project 
• N/A
  
  

Ecotourism Program

• Elephant Valley Project 
• While tourism numbers haven’t recovered fully to pre pandemic levels, we were very thankful to have a busy Jan and Feb. We have had a continuous stretch of 2 week volunteers, as well as short term overnight and day guests. With many hands on deck, we have been able to tackle a number of projects around the site such as bridge building, site clean ups, endangered tree seed collection, painting of signs and buildings, elephant grave - yard maintenance, and various small construction projects. We are grateful for the many supporters, both in person and from afar, that help us keep our project site running.  
• In February we hosted students from The Australian International School of Phnom Phen.  In March, with support from the organization Share The Wonder, we were able to bring out 25 pupils of various ages, from the Mondulkiri State Orphanage. Additionally, students from the School of Field Study spent two days with us observing the elephants, and getting an overview on elephant health and welfare. We are always happy to host students and school groups, as it allows us the opportunity to educate our youth about the importance of forest protection and elephant conservation. With your support we can continue to expand our reach to educate more of the youth across Cambodia.  
• To finish a busy time period, 12 of our Eco Tourism staff took part in a 3 day Wilderness First Aid training course. The participants, made up of our forest guides, and our kitchen and cleaning site staff, not only learned how to assist in guest safety, but were eager to take the information back to their communities. Your support of The Elephant Valley Project, not only goes into the care of the elephants, but helps us to provide livelihoods and support the local community that we partner with.  

Community Support Program

• In February, the community very kindly invited E.L.I.E and EVP to take part in community celebrations, to celebrate the anniversary of having received their Indigenous Community Land Title (ICT).  The ICT was a long 9 year process in which E.L.I.E and EVP assisted.  It was a huge honor to be asked to take part in the celebrations, and to receive recognition of the work that was put in. It is an honor to partner with the community, and with your support, we hope to continue to do so for many years to come.  

• 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.