Cause for Optimism

In August, I added two new National Parks to my travel itinerary and what a wonderful discovery they were!

Kui Buri is beautifully managed with visitors only able to access the Park for 4 hours of the day, always accompanied by a ranger and with the added security of footbaths on access and departure.

Along with my eight guests, I saw many elephants…families with calves, solitary bulls (both tusked and tuskless) and interesting interaction between bulls and families. Matriachs led their groups to and from waterholes and gathered calves to prevent clashes with bulls intent on accessing fertile cows within the groups.

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We witnessed waterplay, dust-bathing and feeding.

Apparently, there are approximately 237 elephants in the Park with an estimated carrying capacity of 400. The human-elephant conflict on the Park borders is minimal and with no known poaching for the past few years, the outlook for these wild elephants looks good.

We even had the added bonus of spotting Gaur!

It was an absolute pleasure to bring in some tourism dollars to support the rangers and help secure a sustainable future for elephants in Thailand. This National Park will definitely be in my itinerary for July 2017!

 

 

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August 2016 Tour and News – Thailand’s Elephants

Exploring National Parks with experts!
6-20 August 2016

You can now reserve your spot!

Every tour with Elephant Encounters includes a week in an elephant village where you take care of an elephant (under expert guidance). Learning first-hand their individual personalities and helping ensure a sustainable future for these wonderful animals is such a privilege! The tour will also celebrate World Elephant Day with the local community.

Equally interesting is the elephant’s role and future in the wild, mostly confined to National Parks these days!

So, during this trip we will visit two unique National Parks – Kui Buri and Sam Roi Yot. Both offer distinctive glimpses into exceptional habitats and species. Our boutique group size (maximum 8 people) will enable us to make the most of our viewing opportunities!

For more information, visit www.elephant-encounters.com

 

In March, you can check out Elephant Encounters on FB for first-hand info during my next trip to Thailand.

Bookings for this trip have closed but I’m excited to be returning to the Elephantstay village to witness changes and progress over the past few months and see the latest calves that have been welcomed since my last visit. Kamlaiphet delivered little ‘Tina’ (pictured right) on 1 Feb in the middle of the day! Highly unusual as babies are usually born during the night…

Once again, I’d like to thank everyone who supported our recent fundraising efforts to purchase a new, safe motorbike with side-cart for the Elephantstay community.
Together we raised close to $4000.
The new fully-functional transport will make a huge difference to the lives of the village mahouts, enabling them to spend more time caring for the elephants…and a lot less in keeping the old vehicle running!Expect to see a smiling photo of Gik when the new bike arrives! 🙂