Help Care for Rescued Animals in Cambodia

Guest Blog and photos by Robert Rosenthal on his visit to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center.

Pikas! Elephants! A baby macaque! The huge-eyed loris! 

As great as it is to meet these incredible creatures, it’s even more exciting – to me, at least! – to learn about the teams, programs, and strategies that are supporting their rehabilitation, care, and (in many cases) return to the wild.

Since early 2014, I’ve traveled through a big part of Southeast and South Asia, exploring the work of NGOs and getting to know many great people who are working with local communities to support sustainable development and protect natural resources. This month marks the anniversary of one of my favorite visits of all, when I was fortunate to be invited to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center as a field rep of GlobalGiving, tasked with seeing the work of Phnom Tamao and its partner Wildlife Alliance in action. I thought I would share a few thoughts about my experience.

I met with Tori Evans and Emma Pollard, both Wildlife Tour guides at Phnom Tamao, as well as Amy Van Nice, International Development Manager and leader of the Kouprey Express Mobile Environmental Education program. I saw current and in-the-works animal enclosures, was introduced to newly rescued animals like a truly amazing slow loris, as well as longtime animal residents like Lucky the Elephant. I also got to watch local kids during a Kouprey Express sponsored field trip, work on wildlife conservation projects.

Most importantly for me, I got a glimpse of the team at Phnom Tamao in action on the funding side to advance its mission and shared goals.

Through good timing, the day I visited, a Cambodian business leader was making a sizable donation, and I was able to watch how the center works to magnify fundraising activities for even greater outcomes. In this case, a $5,000 gift from a local business was recognized with a well attended photo op represented by many members of the local community – a sure sign that other donors will be inspired as well. The gift will be used to pay for two new prosthetics for Chhouk, an Asian elephant who lost a foot in a trap set by rural poachers. I observed the press op, met Chhouk, and watched Chhouk's mahout changing his prosthetic. More than a dozen representatives from the company were on hand, all expertly handled throughout.

The whole experience gave me a lot of insight into the organization's ability to work closely with business leaders to advance its mission and shared goals – a huge must in today’s NGO fundraising climate.