Elephant Sanctuary Laos
Captive elephants are mostly used in logging where they are worked to exhaustion with little opportunity to breed. Consequently, there is an urgent need to protect the remaining elephants and provide a safe-haven where they can live free of exploitation. Female elephants, Phoon Me and Boon Hom, spent decades doing logging before being sent to a camp where they worked together giving rides to tourists. During this time, they formed a bond which has only strengthened since their rescue. Phoon Me walks with a limp after being stabbed in the leg as punishment for wandering onto a neighbouring property where she ate some food intended for another elephant. The silver lining resulting from this cruel act was that her disability provided her ticket out of the riding camp and led to her rescue. The sanctuary is also home to another female elephant, named, Thong Koon, who has suffered from a traumatic past. When Thong Koon arrived at the sanctuary, she was a broken soul following years of hardship in the logging industry, compounded by the painful experience of having a young calf taken away from her, and a second pregnancy resulting in a still birth, possibly from being overworked. In her new environment, free from oppression, Thong Koon is learning to trust again and old wounds have begun to heal.
The sanctuary is located in a very remote forested area intersected by a river, providing plenty of space for the elephants to wander, forage, swim, and just be elephants again. Other permanent residents include animals rescued from slaughter: 27 goats, 20 cows, 27 chickens, 4 rabbits, 60 ducks, 2 geese and 3 turkeys. There are also 10 dogs and 21 cats who have found a loving home at the sanctuary as well as a few monkeys and some tortoises! And to make sure that they are all well looked after, there is a small team of dedicated people working hard day after day, caring for all the animals.
Save Elephant Foundation supports Elephant Sanctuary Laos, which was set up in early 2020. The sanctuary is set on 200 rai of land in Xayaboury Province, about 2 hours from Luang Prabang and is home to three rescued elephants. Laos was formerly known as the ‘land of a million elephants’ and no doubt provided a good habitat in earlier times, with thick jungle and a sparse human population. But years of war with bombs and landmines, ever-expanding human settlements, profit- driven destruction of forests, and the insidious ivory trade, have conspired to reduce the population to about 700 wild elephants and 400 captive elephants.
Save Elephant Foundation Magazine 2022. 25
24 Save Elephant Foundation Magazine 2022.
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