
Siam
Safari was the first company to start elephant
trekking in Phuket in 1994. Having lived and worked with elephants
for nearly 13 years we have encountered many problems concerning
good health care, welfare and the conservation of these truly amazing
but endangered animals.
Siam Safari believes that funds raised from tourists visiting our
camps, donated to help elephant conservation in Thailand can make
a difference to the future survival of the Thai Elephant.
Please come and see our elephants, look at them, touch them, feed
them, go trekking on them and realize how lucky we are to be able
to encounter them. If you want your children and grandchildren to
be able to experience elephants then we must take action to help
save them now.
We are collecting money at our Elephant camps, if you make a donation
at one of our camps the money will be used to help Thai elephants in two ways.
1) Help pay for health check
ups of all the elephants on Phuket Island. Vets from the Elephant Hospital in northern Thailand will
come to Phuket to check all elephants across the island at least
two times a year. Money is needed for medicine for the elephants,
transport, accommodation and on-going treatments.
2) The Elephant Hospital
in Lampang northern Thailand takes care
of injured, sick and old elephants. There are over 30 elephants in
the hospital at the moment. The cost of taking care of these elephants
is high and they do a very good job on the limited budget that they
have. Donations will be sent to the hospital on a regular basis so
they can take better care of the elephants already there and they
can help to save more elephant lives in the future.
Our future objective: There are over 400 elephants in southern Thailand
It is hoped in the future sufficient funds can be raised to
have a mobile elephant clinic check all the elephants here in southern
Thailand which number over 400 in total.
Elephant Health Check.
Click here to see pictures of the latest check-up of Siam Safari’s Elephants in Phuket.
Every year our Elephants are checked by expert Elephant Vets from Lampang and Bangkok, Thailand. Here are a few of the pictures from the latest check up on the 18th of July 2007.
This is a free service for all working Elephants, however a donation is always presented from Siam Safari to help with the costs of such an expensive operation.
What are the problems
facing Thailand’s
Elephants?
Elephant’s today face ever increasing pressure from the world
and one of natures most majestic and intelligent creatures is on
the verge of extinction. We must stand up and take notice of their
plight today.
Only around 3000 elephants remain in Thailand and when comparing
this figure to 100,000 elephants in 1900 you can understand why we
are so concerned. In the whole of Southeast Asia there are between
35,000 to 45,000 individuals. Due to this fact the International
Union for Conservation has classed the species as ‘Endangered’.
Around 20 percent of the human population live either in or
near Asian Elephant habitat which brings constant problems.
Reduction and fragmentation of the forest habitat is constricting
elephants to small numbers that cannot survive the long term. Plus
this puts elephants in direct conflict with humans, resulting in
destroyed crops and elephant attacks. This conflict has seriously
affected many local peoples view of the elephant.
In many cases the wrong people are taking
care of these animals!
With the ban in logging in Thailand in 1989 many Elephants were
left with a problem. Whilst they and their handlers were rightly
prevented from destroying the Asian Elephants natural habitat (the
amazing forests of Thailand) once the ban was implemented there were
many “unemployed” elephants! With a huge number involved
in the logging business this was disastrous for the elephant population;
they had to look elsewhere for work (in the rubber plantations or
illegally begging in the streets of large cities such as Bangkok).
It is estimated that of the 3000 remaining elephants in Thailand
around 2000 of these are in captivity. We must make sure that this
captive population does not reduce in number due to mishandling.
A huge amount of genetic material is locked up in this population
and it must be preserved and taken care of.
Here at Siam Safari we only employ trained Karen Mahouts to
take care of our elephants and in many cases these men have been
with the animal for most of their lives. The Karen are regarded
as the best handlers of elephants due to their relaxed temperament.
Their culture includes hundreds of years of experience working with
and training elephants.
Today elephants are increasingly used in the tourism industry.
Many of the people who look after these animals are not properly trained
and don’t have the skill required to work with the elephants.
In some cases this can lead to the use of violent force to control
the animal. This is not necessary. They are also over worked and exploited
and do not receive the right amount or kind of food, water and medicine.
Lack of research
Few Universities or scientists have enough funding to undertake
research on elephants due to the huge costs involved. Much more information
and research is required to get a better understanding of elephants
both in captivity and in the wild. The understanding of elephants
in captivity is extremely important so we can understand how elephants
can fit into the modern world which if continues to be destroyed
at the current rate will see less and less wild areas and more people.
Problems such as poaching and habitat loss are problems brought
about through human influence. Still today the demand for ivory is
extremely high and the slaughter of these amazing animals is still
a huge threat to their existence.
Tourism
Tourism provides one of the few legal ways elephants and their
mahouts can make a living in Thailand. With around three quarters
of the Thai elephant population in captivity or working in tourism
we believe (if handled correctly) that tourism can help provide
a role for today’s captive elephant. With visitors taking
part in our treks they are also helping to preserve the captive
population of Elephants in Thailand. When you visit us please don’t
feel guilty about riding our elephants; they are well taken care
of and you are providing both them and their mahout a lively hood
which is much better than begging on the streets of Bangkok which
many elephants are still forced to do!
Let’s help save the Asian Elephant!
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