Elephant Welfare Drive – Luang Prabang

Our Elephants Need Help!

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Luang Prabang was locked down at the end of March, this year.

The Elephants, elephant keepers, and their families, those who are taking care of the Elephants , are now experiencing a very difficult situation. Many Elephants and Elephant keepers continue to stay in the Elephant Camps. The responsibility of taking care of the Elephants has fallen on the responsibility of the camps, which means providing the Elephants with 250 kilograms of food per day as well as the other needs of the Elephants, such as exercise, bathing and looking after their health.

The Elephant Camps also have to provide for the cost of living, medical care, and all other expenses for the Elephants, their keepers, and their families at their own expense. This situation was and is completely unexpected, and the camps are in a dire situation where their money needed to care for the Elephants is limited to zero.

No Support Available

You might consider that some support is already in place for Elephants as they are an endangered species, but to date, there has been no support from the Lao government or any foreign organization.

In Laos, the government has not provided any livelihood support to citizens during the pandemic. People caring for Elephants are in a more difficult situation than other Lao people because Elephant camps and Elephant keepers are expected to care not only for their life but also for their Elephants.

There is also no support from international animal protection organizations. International organizations working to protect Elephants are focused solely on the wild elephant conservation, so are not able to help Elephants in Elephant Camps.

Due to the sudden closure of tourism in Lao because of the COVID-19 pandemic, has limited the protection Elephants have. There are no safety nets, and animal welfare groups only support wild Elephants; these three factors have suddenly combined to make it difficult to care for the Elephants in Luang Prabang and cannot be addressed solely by the individual elephant camps. In response to this emergency, the Elephant Camps in Luang Prabang, came together with the Luang Prabang Tourism Board to set up the Luang Prabang Elephant Association to ask for donations from caring and kind-hearted people around the world.

The elephant camps in Luang Prabang are now experiencing difficulties as they are providing care for their own Elephants at their own expense. The foreign owned elephant camps have been able to raise money but the Lao-owned elephant camps have not been able to get any support from anyone. So we have organized a donation project to support all these camps and Elephants.

There are many people in Expat Luang Prabang who are involved in the travel industry. If your tour includes a visit to these elephant camps, please help us with this project by announcing this donation via email.

All Elephant sanctuaries and camps in Luang Prabang Province are in need of donations to help feed and keep the Elephants safe for the next 6 months.

For just food, 1 elephant needs to consume 250 kg of food every day to stay healthy.

Here is what we need the money for:

1) Ensuring that the Elephants have enough food to eat every day.

2) Keeping the Elephants healthy, making sure their well-being is looked after by our elephant keepers (Mahouts). (1 Mahout per elephant is employed and provided safe housing)

3) Maintaining enough land for the Elephants to roam in. (1 elephant needs 10 acres to live comfortably in)

Any and all support is so much appreciated! Be it a donation directly or sharing this link!

Emergency Aid Goals

One elephant upkeep costs is $200 a month, we have 47 Elephants to take care of.

We need 9 months from September to June of 2021

Total $84,600 ($200 for 9 months for all Elephants)

The following 6 Elephant camps need your help:

- All Lao Elephant Camp, 5 Elephants

- Elephant Village , 10 Elephants

- Luang Prabang Elephant Camp , 9 Elephants

- Manifa Elephant Camp , 17 Elephants

- Phone Elephant Camp , 6 Elephants