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16 Elderly Elephants Get a New Home in Northern Thailand

Published

2 years ago

January 31, 2022

Elderly Elephants Get a New Home in Northern Thailand

Over the past two years, Thailand’s captive elephants have faced immense hardship as tourism dollars have dried up at Elephant Camps. In addition, owners and mahouts are struggling to feed and care for them.

Well, there is some good news for the elephants!

Mae Sa Elephant Camp was established 45 years ago in the north of Thailand, has just received eight million baht from a generous donor to care for their elderly elephants.

Anchalee Kalmapichit, the managing director of Mae Sa Elephant Camp, said today that the camp is currently home to 70 elephants, 16 of which are over 60. Currently, eight of these elephants are retired, with Plai Kham Meun being the oldest at 85 years of age.

During his tenure as CEO of Sino-Pacific Trading (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Ekachai Savetsomphob formed close relationships with many elephants at Mae Sa Elephant Camp.

This week, he donated US$245,000 to the Mae Sa Elephant Camp in order to build and maintain the old elephant home.

Healthy food for the elephants

According to CityNews, the home will not only provide healthy food containing vitamins and minerals that is easy for elderly elephants to chew, but also an emergency clinic with full medical support.

During these trying times, Ms Anchalee hopes Thais will become more aware of the plight of our elephants and possibly support tourism to support the elephants.

In response to the Covid-19 virus pandemic, the Thai government closed all non-essential businesses on March 23rd, 2020. Maesa Elephant Camp deemed it a good time to end elephant shows and rides forever.

The chairs used for elephant rides at Maesa Elephant Camp were removed that day, never to be seen again. Using the available land, more elderly elephants can be moved to enjoy a life free of chains within the camp area.

Meanwhile, most of the elderly elephants still living in Maesa Elephant Camp spend their days foraging for food in the jungle above the camp area with their mahouts.

In the valley of Mae Sa Elephant Camp, you can spend the day playing with one of their 70 cute, giant mammals.

Contact: 0 5320 6247, 0 5320 6248, www.maesaelephantcamp.com