A city is the last place where you would expect to find an elephant. Their existence is heartbreaking. Without the forest, and sufficient food, Thai elephants won’t have a chance of survival. 'Bring the Elephant Home' is dedicated to create a better future for all Thai elephants. We hope to achieve this by stimulating animal friendly eco-tourism, creating habitat for elephants, growing food for elephants, creating alternatives for elephant families and by finding solutions to solve human-elephant conflicts. With our project Trees for Elephants we have already planted about 200,000 trees for wild and domesticated elephants. To be able to extend the Elephant Nature Park, we’ll organize Bike for Elephants on January 15 and 16 2011. Read more... >>>
Tree planting and maintenance to improve the habitat of wild elephants
Dutsadee - 30 August 2010 07:54
On 26 June 2010, Bring the Elephant Home, the Elephant Conservation Network, forest rangers and local villagers arranged a planting event inside Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary, Kanchanaburi. In one day we managed to get 11,000 native trees species planted, in an area of 25 rai. We planted the trees in the heart of the natural habitat of over 170 wild elephants.
After tree planting, we need to arrange intensive care of the planted t…rees. This way we will make sure that the trees can compete with the fast-growing weed, will have a high survival rate and can grow very well. The planted trees needs maintenance until the forest recovers within the next 2 – 3 year.
During this event we aim to plant about 1,500 trees to replace the dead trees in our plots and to apply fertilizer and to do weeding for the planted trees. Please join this trees planting and trees maintenance event to improve the habitat of the wild elephants!
Saturday 18/9/2010
9.45 A.M: Arrival of all volunteers. Welcome by chief of ranger, ECN / BTEH and tree planting instruction. (Note: all volunteers are requested to get to Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary by themselves).
10.00 A.M: With 4×4 pick up trucks the planting teams will get inside the jungle.
10.30 A.M: Divide volunteers into 3 groups, start trees planting and tree maintenance in 3 plots (weeding and applying fertilizer) with water / fruit break.
12.00 A.M: Packed lunch in the jungle
1.00 P.M: Continue planted trees maintenance until all plots finished.
3.30 P.M: Finish trees planting and maintenance. Collect all garbage / plastic bags.
4.00 P.M: Drive out of Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary.
Happy birthday Chang Yim!
antoinette - 13 July 2010 07:23
It has been a year since Dok Ngeon gave birth to her boy Chang Yim. Yesterday he celebrated his first birthday in the Elephant Nature Park. To celebrate we made a board with photos of his birth and his current happy life in freedom with his family. As a birthday gift he receive a cake that might be the most expensive baby elephant cake, made of for Thailand exotic fruit. Well, Chang Yim was in fact only interested in the banana trees, the banana and the grass under the fruit. After picking this from the cake, he steps on the fruit to make it a fruit smoothie. The cake looked great though, and it was a special moment for all of us.
Chang Yim is doing really well. The staff, the visitors and the other elephants are crazy about him, and so is his mother Dok Ngeon. He is getting more naughty and wild every day, so it will be a huge and fun challenge to keep him a bit under control. But anyway, he is born free and he will stay free!
Do you want to adopt Chang Yim? Read here how you can do this!
Click for more birthday party pictures… (more…)
volunteer for elephant : Elephant island improvement weekend 24 - 25 July 2010, Buriram
Dutsadee - 12 July 2010 12:32
A weekend filled with fun, inspiration and hard work to improve the elephant island.Aim of this project is to create natural and animal friendly alternatives for ex street begging elephants and their families.
During this event we aim to plant some native trees species and elephant food plants, weeding and applying fertilizer for the planted trees and construction work to improve the hanging bridge and the banana raft.
Saturday 24/7/2010
1.30 P.M: Arrival of the volunteers. Welcome by BTEH and elephant fund committees with a welcome drink.
2.00 P.M: Start tree and elephant food planting.
4.00 P.M: Cut banana trees to feed the elephants.
4.30 P.M: Visit elephant, feed the elephant and relax at riverside.
5.30 P.M: Check in homestay houses in Baan Pai Yai and Baan Pai Noi villages. Walk around the villages and relax.
7.00 P.M: Dinner at the homestay houses.
8.00 P.M: Welcome and friendship ceremony. Traditional Isarn dance performance by kids of Baan Pai Yai.
Sunday 25/7/2010
7:30 A.M: Breakfast at homestay houses.
8.00 A.M: Meet up at the elephant island.
8.30 A.M: Tree maintenance: weeding and fertilizer.
11.30 A.M: Cut and peel elephant food.
12.00 A.M: Picnic lunch (Isarn food) at the mahout house and feed the elephant.
1.00 P.M: Construction work at the bridge and the banana raft.
3.30 P.M: Check out homestay houses, goodbyes to elephants and the villagers and travel back to Bangkok.
9.30 P.M: Arrive Bangkok
4,000 trees planted at the new land and 2,000 in the ENP
antoinette - 5 July 2010 09:59
Photo’s by Nitchanan Onkate.
Last two weekends we organized two tree planting events to create more natural habitat for the elephants of the Elephant Nature Park.
During the event ‘Let’s create an elephant jungle together’ on Saturday the 3rd of July we managed to get almost 4,000 trees planted on the new land of the Elephant Nature Park. Driving to the planting site in the heavy rain with so many volunteers was quite an adventure! We arrived at the planting site right after the rain stopped, so we could start planting in a perfect climate. We had almost 100 volunteers participating: the Elephant Nature Park volunteers, old and new BTEH volunteers living in Chiang Mai and 38 young students from the Star Fish school in Mae Tang. Because the land was prepared already, we could get lots of trees planted in a short time. While carrying and planting trees, the teachers of the Star Fish school explained to the children how much work it is to plant a tree, how long it takes to grow and how easy it is to destroy. They became aware that they should never destroy something important and beautiful like this. And the kids were totally into tree planting, they worked hard and enjoyed the event a lot!
After the hard work we took all the tree planters to the Elephant Nature Park to see for who we are creating this elephant jungle. Especially for the children of the Star Fish school this was an amazing experience. They couldn’t stop asking questions and were super exited to feed the elephants. many of them asked if they could come back to plant more trees and feed the elephants again. Sure they can! We need them to take care of the elephants and the trees, because they are the future.
The Elephant Nature Park took the rest of the seedlings to the Park, because the road is too rough to get more volunteers to the new land during rainy season. Because we need to plant the rest of the trees as soon as possible, we immediately organized the second tree planting event: last Sunday 35 students from the faculty of agriculture of the Rajabhat University came to help us. At two sites within the Elephant Nature Park we managed to get another 2,000 trees planted. That means the tree nursery of the Elephant Nature Park is almost empty, and the park is becoming more green during every rainy day.
Thank you all volunteers for realizing this dream and restoring the forest with us! Click more for information and more pictures of the event. (more…)
Run for Elephants at the Marathon of Chiang Mai
antoinette - 23 June 2010 12:16
Run for Elephants at the marathon of Chiang Mai!
Sunday the 26th of December a ‘Run for Elephants’-team will join the Chiang Mai marathon. We invite you to join our team, raise funds for the Elephant Nature Park and create awareness about the plight of Thai elephants. The Elephant Nature Park, in a beautiful mountain range north of Chiang Mai, is a safe home to rescued elephants that were previously abused and neglected.
Join the Run for Elephants-team
Sign up for the Chiang Mai marathon and let us know you join the Run for Elephants-team. We will provide a sponsor form, fundraising ideas and a page with an online donation tool on our website. For the race you will get a Run for Elephants t-shirt.
You can set up your own target for your fundraising efforts, no minimum amount is required. You can register for any distance you prefer (marathon, half marathon, 10k or team relay). You are responsible for your own registration, preparation and fundraising. As a team we hope to inspire people to join, to get (very) active to support Thai elephants, to help each other with fundraising ideas and reach more people to share our passion for Thai elephants.
Join our team and let’s run together for a better future for elephants! (more…)
Bike for Elephants 2011
antoinette - 20 June 2010 19:10
Join our charity bike ride for the survival of Thai elephants!
The weekend of the 15th and 16th of January 2011 we invite you to join our ‘Bike for Elephants’ tour in Northern Thailand. Two days of adventure and fun biking through the Mae Tang valley, in Chiang Mai province.
This event will raise much needed funds for the Elephant Nature Park and create awareness about the plight of Thai elephants. The Elephant Nature Park, in a beautiful mountain range north of Chiang Mai, is a safe home to rescued elephants that were previously abused and neglected.
The route: Tour de Chang (route not finalized yet)
January 15, 2011
About 50 km, route is suitable for average bikers.
Through the mountains we will cycle towards the Elephant Nature Park, where we will camp on Saturday night. Here you will not only have a chance to refresh in the river while washing liberated elephants, but also to learn about natural elephant behavior and to see how the money you raised will be spent. We will set up our tents in the Elephant Nature Park, have an early night and wake up with the sounds of elephants! (more…)
8,000 trees planted at the elephant island project
antoinette - 14 June 2010 08:51
Last weekend Bring the Elephant Home hosted the World Environment Weekend at our elephant island project in Buriram. About 250 Thai volunteers of all ages traveled from far to join the event. During the weekend we managed to establish an elephant food plantation, we reforested three locations with 8,000 newly planted trees of 30 different species, we fed the elephant and shared our feelings and passion for Thai elephants and conservation issues during the candle ceremony. After the weekend the volunteers left exhausted, but satisfied and full of inspiration to create a better world together. Click more to read the details of the event and to see the photo’s.
Let’s create a new elephant jungle together
antoinette - 31 May 2010 15:54
Chiang Mai, Saturday 3 July 2010: tree planting on the new land of Elephant Nature Park.
Last year the Elephant Nature Park was able to buy a new piece of land. The property is about 100 acres, surrounded by protected forests, and has some beautiful streams running through it. When we bought it, the land was mainly used for cabbage plantations. These plantations are gone now, so many hands are needed to restore the forest and to make this a true elephant’s paradise!
The coming five years we have to plant many trees that will attract birds and other wild animals. This way the natural seed distributors will automatically visit our land from the neighboring forests, and plant more trees for us. At the moment the ENP established one house and some bathrooms on the property and planted many trees already. As soon as the forest returns, the Elephant Nature Park wants to use the land as a second elephant heaven. Some elephants from the park will live there in freedom, without much interaction with people. Volunteers can observe the elephants from some tree houses, that will be build in the future. At the moment there are no elephants on the land yet.
Help realizing this dream and restore the forest with us! (more…)
In loving memory of Nok Noi
antoinette - 26 May 2010 10:57
Tragic news from Elephant Island: Thursday May 20th Nok Noi suddenly passed away. Monday night I got a call from worried villagers because Nok Noi collapsed in a swampy area and couldn’t get up. The elephant hospital in Surin was sending a team immediately. That night we drove directly to Buriram. The doctors said they gave her 50% chance to survive, but that it was her time already. They thought she was much older than we were told at the time she was bought. When we arrived on the island the next day Nok Noi was to our surprise very lively and in a good mood. She ate a lot, walked to the river by herself and enjoyed roaming around freely on the main land. Wednesday afternoon she became exhausted again and refused to eat. Around 9 pm she lay down to sleep. Around 11 pm, she woke up but could not get up. She breathed heavily, and after a few attempts to stand up she fell asleep again. We decided to give her some rest, and wait for the doctors in the morning. But when we came back at 6 am, she already passed away. After a lifetime of hard work, she could only enjoy her freedom for 1.5 years. She will be missed terribly by all of us.
Click more for photo’s of Nok Noi and the funeral ceremony. (more…)
Join our tree planting event for wild elephants
antoinette - 09:24
Kanchanaburi Salakpra Wildlife sanctuary, Saturday 26 June 2010: tree planting event for wild elephants.
New opportunity to save the world, make merit, meet people, learn about wildlife conservation and have a fun weekend:
Salakpra is the first wildlife Sanctuary of Thailand (1965). About 170 wild elephants live here, but their forest is declining. Help is needed to restore the forest.
In 2008 the rangers, local villagers, the Elephant Conservation Network and Bring the Elephant Home started a joint project to grow, plant and take care of trees inside Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary. In the heart of the protected wild elephant habitat.
So far 21,000 trees have been planted and taken care of. A tree nursery has been set up at the ranger station, which produces about 18,000 seedlings per year. The seedlings in the nursery are strong enough to be planted, and soon it will be rainy season. The perfect timing for a big tree planting event.
Please join this tree planting event to improve the habitat of the wild elephants! Click more for the details for this unique event. (more…)
