Phuket elephant welfare park to offer respite from tourism

[rooster59]

Phuket elephant welfare park to offer respite from tourism

Tanyaluk Sakoot



PHUKET: A welfare park to provide care for elephants injured or retired from working in Phuket’s tourism industry will open in Thalang in August.

The Elephant Nature Park (ENP) Phuket, a sibling venture to the ENP projects in Chiang Mai, Kanchanaburi, Surin and Cambodia, will be located near the Khao Phra Thaew Wildlife Sanctuary, on 70 rai donated by Montree Todtan, former owner of At Hill Adventure Park in Chalong.

Sangduan “Lek” Chailert, founder of the Save Elephant Foundation, joined Mr Montree to inspect the site last week. Joining them was and Louise Rogerson, founder of the Elephant Asia Rescue and Survival foundation (EARS Asia), who will be Project Director at Elephant Nature Park Phuket.

“An elephant welfare camp in Phuket is a necessity,” Ms Lek told The Phuket News on Wednesday (May 11). “I investigated elephant camps here and found that many elephants are too old to work, some are blind, injured and too disabled to be sent home, then they die. It’s very sad.”

According to ENP Phuket, there are 26 elephant camps in Phuket with a total of 216 captive elephants used in the tourism industry for riding and performances. At some of the elephant camps, it has been reported that elephants... can give up to 30-40 rides per day in Phuket, the project noted.

“Almost every tourist here is presented with a tour package that includes elephant trekking, an elephant show or a baby elephant at a party. This is not impressive for the tourism image here,” Ms Lek said.

“I was asked by tourists why Phuket does not provide welfare care for its elephants. That is part of our motivation to open the park. Also, tourists must realise that wildlife is best seen roaming free and when more care is given to the animal,” she added.

Ms Lek’s credentials in elephant welfare are extensive. Born to a small hill tribe north of Chiang Mai in 1962, she has since been featured in documentaries produced by National Geographic, Discovery, Animal Planet and the BBC.

In 2010, she was invited to Washington DC to be honoured as one of six “Women Heroes of Global Conservation”. She was named one of Time Magazine’s “Heroes of Asia” for her work in conservation in 2005 and the Ford Foundation’s “Hero of the Planet” in 2001.

“Our new project, Elephant Nature Park Phuket will embrace a different type of elephant tourism. We will be removing the saddle and allowing our elephants to walk and forage naturally in the forest, to socialise with each other, to bathe and play in the lagoon, and to roam free,” ENP Phuket announced on Wednesday.

Full story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-elephant-welfare-park-to-offer-respite-from-tourism-57411.php#K1sTTvM0bkp8gxTe.97

-- Phuket News 2016-05-14

[junk1e]

What with the notorious Phuket Zoo, Tiger Kingdom, Phuket Fantasea and now a Dolphinarium, coupled with photographers offering photos with illegal wildlife and all the elephant rides and other animal shows, Phuket has become the capital of animal exploitation. This is a welcome addition to the Soi Dog Foundation and the Gibbon rehabilitation project, in showing how animals should be treated. A shame that tourists don't visit and donate to these rather than continuing to encourage the exploitation and often cruelty of animals there.