#elephantsinperil

[trunk-travel-blog]

The Situation Is Worsening....

A couple of days ago out Chief Operating Officer, Lucy, met with one of Thailand’s most respected elephant experts and founder of the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, Mr John Roberts.

The point of the meeting was to discuss how trunk and his foundation can work together on various ideas and projects to ultimately raise the much-needed funding to support as many of the hundreds of elephants in captivity in the northern provinces of Thailand.

There are approximately 1,500 elephants in peril in this area of Thailand. Most of which will be returned to their owners, to squalid conditions, to a limited diet and almost non-existent healthcare.

When we met with John he explained the current plight in more detail. A video that you can watch here. We urge you to watch it to understand more about this unprecedented situation we’re facing -

https://youtu.be/PBjM5gY624o

There was one piece of good news that was reported today. One of Thailand’s oldest elephant camps that despite constant pressure continued to offer rides to unknowing tourists has finally closed its doors due to the drop in tourist numbers. They’ve expressed that now the saddles have been removed they will never be put back on the elephants. We’ll see if that happens and keep you updated.

https://bit.ly/TrunkElephantNews2632020

[trunk-travel-blog]

Elephants in Peril

Very sad news from the San Sai area of Chiang Mai yesterday where an elephant trampled to death a man in his garden.

This is absolutely the result of elephants being 'freed' from camps due to the lack of financial support they're receiving. This elephant was obviously stressed and confused through dehydration, heat and lack of food, and simply shouldn't be in that area.

This is yet another reason why we need help to raise funds to be able to buy and deliver healthy food for the elephants affected by the Covid-crisis. Please help us. Please dig deep. We are desperate and so are they.

https://bit.ly/Elephantsinperil2

And you can donate here - http://bit.ly/helpfeedthem

[trunk-travel-blog]

This Week #2 (23rd March 2020)

Today our Chief Operating Officer, Lucy, and a few our team are heading out to visit two of our supported camps in the Chiang Mai area. Braving the obvious travel restrictions, amongst everything else, they intend to create a video report of the state of these two camps. 

It’s been widely reported about the impact this crisis has had on the elephants, the mahouts, their families and the communities who rely heavily on the tourist dollar cropping up their meagre income. Today we plan to visit thee camps, these communities, the mahouts and their elephants so that we can actually show you the effects this is having and the troubles we’re facing.

There is a genuine rumour that in this area all elephants camps and sanctuaries must close down with immediate effect. At the time of writing this, it is still a rumour. We are trying to obtain a copy of the official document but as is so often the way here in Thailand, rumour and fact remain miles apart. We will update you as soon as we know the truth.

What happens with the elephants once the camps close? Quite simply, they will most likely return from where they came, receive limited if any interaction with other elephants, probably zero exercise or positive reinforcements, kept on short, painful chains away from their peers and their social circles. The future for these amazing animals is very bleak indeed

In addition to the impact caused by the cease in visitors, we’re in the middle of a drought in northern Thailand. The ground is barren. There is very limited real food available for the elephants to graze. 

There is a very real risk of malnutrition, serious health risks and ultimately starvation.

Most of the mahouts have had to leave the camps to find whatever work they can in order to care for their families

Our fundraising is slowly helping. We’ve raised almost $500 so far. This will help to feed several elephants for a few days. With this pandemic expected to last for several more months, we need to raise a lot more. $500 per day would be nice!

Please, please, please help us by donating here - 

http://bit.ly/trunkfundme

We’re all hoping that by bringing the facts to the world we can have a positive impact on the fundraising. Our video report will include interviews with the organisers at the camp. We’ll be speaking to the mahouts, showing you the current state of the camps, the surroundings and we are sure this will answer many questions that you may have.

If you have any questions, or there is anything that you would like to know about this very troubling time, please don’t hesitate to let us know.