Volunteering with rescued elephants in Thailand

My name is Courtney Conroy. I am a 3rd year electronic and computer engineering student at the University of Limerick. In August 2019, I will be travelling to Thailand for two weeks to volunteer at an elephant conservation.

Any contribution, no matter the size, would be greatly appreciated.

If you can't make a donation, I would really appreciate that you share this campaign on social media,

Thailand is home to both populations of wild and domesticated populations of the Asian elephant. The domestic population is sadly made up of animals that have been caught from the wild or bred in captivity. These animals have been trained/broken to live and work in the tourist or logging industry. Today, Thailand’s wild population elephant population is struggling for survival. The wild elephant population of Thailand is estimated at 2200 individuals, that live in open grasslands and dense rainforests spread over the country.

After the ban on logging in 1989, most of the logging elephants ended up being used within the tourist industry or have been used to make a living by begging on the streets of big cities. Walking day and night on these dirty and traffic-congested streets is detrimental to the elephant’s health, and unnatural. Street begging elephants often end up being involved in road traffic accidents, with fatalities commonly occurring for both the elephant and the mahout.

Unfortunately, in Thailand, there are currently no laws to prevent this abuse and mistreatment. Therefore there is an urgent need to help these animals. This sanctuary has been created for elephants to retire and be given the respect these amazing creatures deserve.

I will be taught everything you need to know about the care of these captivating creatures, work hands-on with the elephants, washing them, feeding them, cleaning and maintaining their enclosures, and going out to collect food for them.

This volunteering trip is organised by www.planmygapyear.co.uk.