Tag: Elephant conservation

A visit to MandaLao Elephant Conservation in Laos.

If you should be visiting Laos and staying in the ever-popular Luang Prabang area you might be tempted to visit one of the much touted nearby elephant camps. Booking offices for the camps line the main street of the town and you are spoilt for choice. Hopefully you will be looking for an ethically operated one which does not condone elephant riding. The MandaLao Elephant Conservation is certainly one of those. 

We recently had the pleasure of spending a day with their elephants and staff and came away with extremely positive feelings that Asian elephants can be saved and allowed to have, as they put it, “dignified and comfortable lives in harmony with nature.” We came away impressed with their philosophy and professionalism.

But it is not the same at all the elephant “rescues” in the area and throughout Laos. Elephant riding is not banned and it is common to see elephant camps advertising tours for riding.  There was in fact a new elephant riding camp under construction at the time of our visit.

Elephant riding scars

One of the rescued Mandalao elephants with scars caused by the howdah seat used for tourist riding.

To ride or not to ride elephants

The ethics and welfare aspects of riding them is constantly under review and debate with some experts going so far as believing it is good for them. This does rather stretch the credibility though. All purport to rescue ill-treated animals from logging and tourists attractions with low welfare, but many who obtain them are tourist attractions themselves and welfare standards can vary.

MandaLao Elephant Conservation and the nearby Elephant Conservation centre do seem to have got it right. Mandalao are focused on allowing the animals to live as natural a life as possible, roaming, foraging and forming bonds to create a herd that can be released.

Visiting MandaLao Elephant Conservation

Trekking with the elephants. You are provided with water canteens and legging boots.

It is a short road trip to the MandaLao headquarters, a new state of the art complex perched above the river with great vistas. After a welcoming drink we sat and had a lecture from the genial and visionary elephant expert Mr Prasop Tipprasert who is their chief consultant and often referred to as the elephant whisperer. It was extremely educational, but perhaps too technical for the average tourist who just wants to see the elephants as soon as possible.

Mandalao Elephants foraging in forest

Foraging for themselves under the watchful eye of the mahouts. It is wonderful enjoying the serenity of their company.

Mr Tipprasert hails from the Thailand Elephant Conservation centre where over the last three decades  he has been the originator and pioneer of the Positive Reinforcement Training of elephants. Basically, this means training with rewards such as a treat or praise when behaving well. He also successfully introduced the concept and establishment of having forest buffer zones around  elephant sanctuaries so as not to upset adjacent farmers and residents and made it possible to release some elephants back into the wild.

The centre operates a morning and afternoon group of up to eight people and an all-day group restricted to four, which although expensive is by far the best experience. We took part in the all day and were the only ones and were taken across the river in a canoe to meet the two elephants we were to spend our day with. We spent a leisurely morning trekking with them and their mahouts and an extremely informative and helpful guide named Tanh who had a great sense of humour.

A new arrival suffering awful repetitive behavior and at the beginning of her rehabilitation. Filmed by Debbie Jacob.

Fascinating to watch their natural habits

We watched as they foraged and used their fascinating natural skills and habits such as breaking off branches stripping the leaves while holding them with their massive feet. It was all done at their pace and the mahouts seemed devoted to them. We then had lunch at a jungle camp, a swim in a small waterfall and a final trek back. It was wonderful to see the elephants just being elephants.

So, if you do find yourselves in Luang Prabang I can recommend MandaLao.  It is professionally run with no hint of touristy tactics and not used by drop in tours. Every visitor provides financial help for the care of the animals and in expanding their operation to give even more retired elephants the peaceful life they deserve amongst friends, both human and of their own kind.

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In the company of the Kulen Forest elephants.

I recently had the great pleasure to meet and spend the day with a group of fourteen Asian elephants at the Kulen Elephant Forest in Cambodia, a new retirement sanctuary for the Angkor Wat elephants who spent most of their lives giving tourist rides round the temples.

Wild elephants are rapidly declining in Cambodia with only 600 inhabiting small pockets of forest which do not allow any integration. There are also 75 captive elephants with various conservation organisations encouraging owners to relinquish them. Fourteen of these reside at the new 530 acre Kulen Elephant Forest which opened in January 2020, where they can finally roam relatively free and lead a semi-natural life.

Being introduced to some of the elephants before taking a walk with them. Photo: John Brookland

The Kulen Community Forest has mostly disappeared and is situated an hours drive north of Siem Reap in the Kulen Mountain foothills. The forest belongs to the Bos Thom Community and was being heavily deforested for agricultural purposes with only 1100 acres remaining, until Kulen Forest Asia stepped in and negotiated with the villagers to take responsibility for and protect 530 acres to provide a home for the elephants. Cambodia is third on the list of countries deforesting at an alarming rate. The reserve is operated with their permission and cooperation and in return the villagers receive employment and payments for community projects from the tourist revenue and are paid for crops grown to feed the elephants.

They were “buddied” up and seemed devoted to each other. Photo: John Brookland

On arrival we hiked with a guide for twenty minutes through cultivated land and then suddenly into the forest to the newly built headquarters where we were greeted before being “introduced” to four of the elephants and told about their characters and how to act round them. I have been lucky enough to have spent a lot of time in the presence of elephants in Africa and Asia, but I am still wowed by their size, dignity, patience and gentleness. I am always drawn to their round piercing, but friendly eyes and just being around them is more relaxing than any spa. I will never understand how anyone can kill or mistreat them.

The elephants, when first brought to the reserve, were allowed to choose partners and are “buddied” up with each pair appearing to be devoted to each other. They have a dedicated mahout who spends dawn to dusk with them making sure they come to no harm. They are allowed as much freedom as possible and chance to socialise and indulge natural behaviours. It is of course impossible for them to do completely as they please as there are no fences or barriers. Unfortunately they can never become truly “wild” again, but they can enjoy roaming the forest grazing, taking dust and mud baths, swimming and anything else they desire to do with the exception of one thing – damage the trees. Left to their own devices they would destroy the forest very quickly so the mahout gives them a shout when they sneakily start pulling branches down. They are fed daily with bulk feed and added supplements to keep them healthy and the operation is overseen by an elephant specialist.

Enjoying a mud bath in the forest. Photo: John Brookland

Watching and talking to the mahouts it was obvious they were devoted to the elephants and their welfare and I could see they took pleasure in keeping the elephants happy often going out of their way to provide treats like chopping up a coconut for them. The elephants were also completely at ease with them and visitors like ourselves, but being such large creatures it can be a danger to be around them and you need to act sensibly.

Our day with the elephants involved trekking through the forest with them, watching them bathe and have a mud bath and just chilling out with them. They happily joined us for a picnic and went mad with expectation like kids when we prepared rice ball treats containing supplements for them. We were ecstatic and the elephants appeared happy and contented as well.

Enjoying a bath in the newly created lake at Kulen Elephant Forest. Photo: John Brookland

When contemplating visiting so-called “sanctuaries” many animal welfarists and animal rights advocates can be put off which is a shame, but with a little research it is possible to weed out the genuine conservation and welfare operations. Kulen Forest is quick to point out that there “are no tricks, no riding, but offer a fun, educational approach to elephant conservation and contribute as much as possible to preserving the remaining elephants of Cambodia”.

Using tourist revenue to provide income for the local community while preserving forest and habitat and providing a safe haven for captive working elephants seems to be a win win solution. Educating and getting the cooperation of local people through financial gain may not be for all conservation purists and yes, its a shame the elephants cannot be left to roam freely in peace, but these days it has got to be about compromise if we are going to “save” animals and habitat and provide them with a better life.

Looking for the rice balls when joining us for lunch